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THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


BOOKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


Color  and  Its  Applications  (1915). 

360  Pages,  129  Illustrations,  21  Tables,  and  4 
Color  Plates. 

Light  and  Shade  and  Their  Applications  ( 1916) . 
277  Pages,  135  Illustrations,  10  Tables. 

The  Lighting  Art  (1917). 

229  Pages,  43  Illustrations,  9  Tables. 

The  Language  of  Color  (1918). 


THE 

LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


BY 

M.  LUCKIESH 

Physicist,  Nela  Research  Laboratory  National  Lamp 
Works  of  General  Electric  Company 
Author  of  “Color  and  Its  Applications,”  "Light  and  Shade 
and  Their  Applications,”  "The  Lighting  Art” 


NEW'  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 
1918 


Copyright,  1918 

By  DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY,  Iwc. 


MY  WIFE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Getty  Research  Institute 


https://archive.org/details/languageofcolorbOOIuck_O 


PREFACE 


There  is  evidence  on  all  sides  of  a  lack  of 
correlation  of  the  sciences  and  the  arts  which 
doubtless  is  due  to  the  difficulty  an  individual 
encounters  in  adapting  himself  to  these  two 
viewpoints.  For  the  benefit  of  his  art,  the  art¬ 
ist  should  acquaint  himself  with  the  general 
sciences  upon  which  his  art  is  founded ;  and  for 
the  benefit  of  progress  the  scientist  should  bear 
in  mind  the  viewpoint  of  the  artist.  There 
should  be  no  misapprehension  regarding  the 
relation  of  science  and  art  because  the  former 
supplies  the  enduring  foundation  for  the  latter. 
For  this  reason  it  appears  that  those  who  pri¬ 
marily  possess  a  scientific  viewpoint  should  at¬ 
tempt  to  bridge  the  gap  by  laying  their  course 
upon  facts.  It  is  with  this  attitude  that  I  have 
attempted  to  present  a  brief  review  of  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  color  in  which  its  present  status,  and 
the  foundation  upon  which  its  future  must  be 
established,  are  discussed. 

No  subject  has  been  more  abused  than  Color 
by  those  possessing  only  a  superficial  knowl- 

vii 


VI 11 


PREFACE 


edge  of  the  underlying  scientific  principles; 
therefore,  there  is  a  need  for  presentations  of 
the  facts  of  various  aspects  of  color.  The  sub¬ 
ject  of  this  book  is  very  extensive  in  scope  for 
it  includes  not  only  various  sciences  but  also 
many  arts.  Brevity  of  treatment  was  essential 
in  order  to  present  a  concise  review  of  the  sub¬ 
ject  and  it  has  appeared  the  better  plan  at  this 
time  to  present  merely  a  review  as  suggestively 
as  possible.  The  goal  which  I  have  kept  in 
mind  is  the  possibility  of  an  ultimate  art  purely 
of  color  or  at  least  of  an  extension  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  use  of  the  expressiveness  of  color.  Such 
an  aim  can  only  be  realized  by  interpreting  our 
present  language  of  color,  by  extending  this 
knowledge  by  further  study  and  experiments, 
and  by  making  the  understanding  of  the  ex¬ 
pressiveness  of  color  a  general  accomplishment 
of  mankind. 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  dealing  with  those  as¬ 
pects  of  color  which  are  only  vaguely  under¬ 
stood  the  discussion  does  not  depart  far  from 
the  known  scientific  facts  which  appear  to  be 
associated  with  the  future  development  of  these 
aspects.  On  the  whole,  this  brief  treatise  aims 
to  correlate  the  science  and  art  of  the  expres¬ 
siveness  of  color  in  a  fundamental  manner.  It 
is  hoped  that  this  rudimentary  “dictionary”  of 


PREFACE 


IX 


the  language  of  color  is  a  forerunner  of  a  more 
extensive  discussion  which  may  appear  in  later 
years  if  the  developments  are  sufficient  to  war¬ 
rant  it.  Regardless  of  the  future,  it  appears 
that  the  effort  has  been  well  spent  if  it  has 
yielded  no  more  than  a  correlation  of  some  of 
the  data  of  the  sciences  and  arts  of  color.  My 
viewpoint  is  more  comprehensively  discussed  in 
the  first  chapter  which  is  in  reality  a  preface  to 
be  read  and  in  the  last  chapter  which  points 
toward  the  future. 

I  take  pleasure  in  recording  my  appreciation 
of  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  the  National  Lamp  Works  of  General 
Electric  Company  for  prosecuting  various  stud¬ 
ies  and  of  the  courtesies  extended  by  Dr.  E.  P. 
Hyde,  director  of  the  Nela  Research  Labora¬ 
tory. 

Oct.  31,  1916 


M.  Ltjckiesh 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Introduction . 3 

Mythology . 13 

Association  . 19 

Nature . 29 

Primitive  Language . 41 

Literature . . . 55 

Painting . 68 

Ecclesiasticism . 79 

Theatre . 89 

PART  II 

Symbolism  oe  Color . 95 

Red . 100 

Yellow . 109 

Green . 115 

Blue . 119 

White . ^ . 123 

Black . 127 

Gray . 133 

Various  Colors . 136 


XI 


xii  CONTENTS 

PART  III 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Nomenclature . 143 

Psycho-physiology  op  Color . 156 

Color  Preference . 176 

Affective  Value  of  Colors . 193 

Attention  Value  of  Colors . 209 

PART  IV 

Esthetics . 219 

Harmony . 235 

Color  Practice . 252 

Color-Music . 262 

Finale . 277 

Bibliography . 282 


PART  I 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 

INTRODUCTION 


PROLONGED  intimacy  with  color,  either  in 
its  science  or  art,  doubtless  has  always 
aroused  and  stimulated  thought  and  specula¬ 
tion  regarding  its  effects  upon  the  human  or¬ 
ganism.  In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  aims  of  the 
artist  to  discover  the  powers  of  colors  and  to 
employ  their  suggestiveness  in  his  appeals  to 
emotional  man.  In  this  respect  our  final  inter¬ 
est  in  the  use  of  color,  as  in  many  other  activi¬ 
ties,  is  largely  concerned  with  the  psychological 
effects.  In  other  words,  the  ultimate  object  of 
the  various  arts  lies  largely  in  their  influences 
upon  human  consciousness.  It  would  he  an  in¬ 
teresting  study  to  explore  the  maze  of  devious 
highways  traversed  by  that  evoluting  some¬ 
thing  which  is  an  emotion  in  the  making  but 
this  is  a  field  for  the  psychologist.  Investiga¬ 
tors  in  psychology  are  invading  this  vast  un¬ 
known  and  from  this  angle  it  is  hoped  that  our 
knowledge  of  the  emotional  effects  of  color  will 
some  day  be  greatly  extended. 

It  is  the  object  in  this  brief  work  to  explore 

3 


4 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


various  fields  in  which  color  is  used,  to  attempt 
to  sift  out  the  part  played  by  color  in  arousing 
emotions  and  in  portraying  ideas,  and  to  pre¬ 
sent  discussions  and  suggestions  regarding  the 
possibility  of  a  future  art  purely  or  predomi¬ 
nantly  of  color.  The  wonderful  gift  of  color- 
vision  has  made  it  possible  to  touch  the  emo¬ 
tional  side  of  the  human  organism  through  color 
in  Nature  and  through  the  use  of  color  in  such 
arts  as  painting,  architecture,  literature,  danc¬ 
ing,  and  the  drama.  Exhaustive  research  in 
these  various  fields  is  not  entertained  at  present 
but  it  is  the  hope  that  the  following  brief  dis¬ 
cussions,  combined  with  a  study  of  color  in  na¬ 
ture  and  with  the  meager  data  supplied  by  the 
physiologist  and  psychologist,  will  illuminate 
the  pathway  toward  a  rudimentary  dictionary 
of  the  language  of  color. 

It  would  be  unscientific  to  deny  the  existence 
of  a  language  of  color  because  we  do  not  un¬ 
derstand  it  thoroughly  at  present  and  quite  un¬ 
progressive  to  reject  the  possibility  of  finally 
completing  the  dictionary  of  this  language. 
Color  experiences  are  indeed  very  intricate  at 
present  but  it  is  likely  that  this  is  due  to  our 
scanty  knowledge  of  the  elements  and  processes 
involved  in  the  emotional  appeal  of  colors,  and 
to  our  inability  to  interpret  and  to  correlate 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


5 


properly  the  various  factors.  Much  knowledge 
must  be  unearthed  before  a  rudimentary  dic¬ 
tionary  of  this  language  is  available  but  first 
the  scientific  attitude  should  admit  the  possi¬ 
bility  that  the  language  of  the  group  of  experi¬ 
ences  associated  with  color  eventually  will  be 
understood.  Directly  and  indirectly  we  have 
occasional  glimmerings  of  understanding  but 
the  data  which  must  build  the  foundation  of 
this  dictionary  are  meager  indeed.  It  must  be 
sought  in  many  indirectly  related  activities  of 
man,  the  emotional  aspects  of  which  are  at  best 
only  faintly  understood.  When  it  is  considered 
that  most  of  the  knowledge  of  the  expressiveness 
of  color  must  be  sought  in  these  various  activi¬ 
ties  whose  allegorical,  representative  or  emo¬ 
tional  powers  are  more  or  less  obscure,  it  would 
be  presumptuous  to  expect  to  emerge  from  the 
final  chapter  of  this  book  with  an  unabridged 
dictionary  of  the  language  of  color.  Therefore, 
no  greater  result  is  expected  than  a  correlation 
of  the  various  viewpoints  and  sources  of  infor¬ 
mation  which  may  serve  as  a  preliminary 
analysis  of  present  knowledge  of  the  subject. 
At  least  it  is  hoped  that  fruitful  trends  of 
thought  and  investigation  and  various  exten¬ 
sions  of  the  application  of  color  will  be  made 
apparent. 


6 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


In  the  arts,  color  has  not  yet  played  a  solo 
part.  It  has  been  merely  an  element  in  the  en¬ 
semble,  but  even  in  this  minor  role  its  influence 
appears  to  be  positive  though  difficult  to  analyze. 
Instead  of  being  merely  an  element  in  an  en¬ 
semble,  is  it  not  possible,  when  its  language  is 
understood,  that  there  will  have  evolved  an  art 
purely,  or  at  least  predominantly,  of  color, 
which,  in  order  to  be  interpretable,  will  require 
little  or  no  assistance  from  line,  form,  subject, 
words,  rhythmic  sounds  or  movements?  The 
chief  object  here  is  to  record  results  of  excur¬ 
sions  into  the  various  fields,  including  arts  and 
sciences,  and  to  discuss  briefly  the  meager,  avail¬ 
able  data  which  contribute  toward  a  language 
of  color.  However  occasionally,  by  drawing 
upon  intimacies  gained  through  direct  interest 
and  contact  with  the  artistic  and  scientific  as¬ 
pects  of  color,  the  author  will  venture  sugges¬ 
tions  and  possibly  a  few  predictions,  with  the 
object  of  hastening,  doubtless  ever  so  slightly, 
the  possible  advent  of  such  an  art  or  at  least  the 
extension  of  the  use  of  color.  Experiments,  ob¬ 
servation  and  study  must  be  relied  upon  to  sup¬ 
ply  the  foundation  and  to  enlarge  the  dictionary 
of  the  language  of  color  so  that,  eventually,  a 
language,  crude  though  it  may  be  in  the  begin- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


7 


ning,  may  form  a  broader  foundation  for  a  work¬ 
ing  knowledge  of  the  emotional  possibilities  of 
color.  If  it  appears  to  some  that  the  subject 
treated  here  is  outside  the  realm  of  the  scientist 
in  the  field  of  color,  the  defense  offered  is  that 
this  book  is  not  dealing  with  a  recognized  exist¬ 
ing  reality  but  with  a  possible  futurity.  Fur¬ 
thermore,  the  foundation  of  all  arts  is  science, 
and  definite  progress  will  best  result  from  a 
scientific  analysis  of  the  available  knowledge 
and  from  two  perspective  views,  one  backward 
and  the  other  forward. 

Color  in  a  broad  sense  includes  light  and 
shade  and  is  synonymous  to  light.  In  all  in¬ 
terpretations,  difficulties  arise  from  the  unfortu¬ 
nate  indefiniteness,  and  consequent  looseness,  of 
the  nomenclature  of  color.  Ofttimes  through¬ 
out  this  study  and  discussion  it  has  been  neces¬ 
sary  to  interpret  a  vague  description  or  use  of 
color,  and  it  is  recognized  that  these  instances 
provide  opportunities  for  different  opinions. 
Furthermore,  all  the  data  recorded  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  chapters  are  not  considered  conclusive, 
and  the  author  does  not  necessarily  commit  him¬ 
self  to  a  complete  accord  with  many  of  these 
symbolical  uses  of  color  by  the  act  of  incorpo¬ 
rating  descriptions  of  them.  The  material  has 


8 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


been  carefully  selected  and  recorded  because  of 
its  possible  value  and  has  been  condensed  for  the 
sake  of  interest  and  clarity. 

Not  the  least  incentive  in  presenting  this  brief 
work  has  been  the  desire  to  illustrate  the  differ¬ 
ence  in  the  value  of  material  of  this  character, 
which  has  at  least  some  semblance  of  a  sound 
foundation  of  fact,  and  that  which  springs  from 
pure  imagination.  It  is  not  unusual  to  hear  the 
scientist — the  searcher  after  facts,  the  analyst 
who  not  only  aims  to  discover  truths  but  to 
learn  their  relations  to  each  other — accused  of 
a  lack  of  imagination.  It  is  quite  consistent 
that  the  accusers  are  usually  possessed  of  ab¬ 
normal  imaginations  which  dominate  or  smother 
that  which  furnishes  the  ties  to  this  world  of  ac¬ 
cepted  facts.  They  have  little  respect  for  ac¬ 
cepted  facts  but  a  relatively  much  greater  re¬ 
gard  for  the  products  of  their  imaginations. 
Ofttimes  they  are  neither  adequately  versed  in 
science  nor  sufficiently  analytical  to  discern  the 
difference  between  that  which  is  fact  in  the  ordi¬ 
nary  sense  and  that  which  they  think  is  fact. 
This  is  simply  illustrated  in  the  foregoing  ac¬ 
cusation  because  it  has  been  imagination  that 
has  led  the  scientist  to  discoveries.  The  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  scientist  and  the  ultra-imagi¬ 
native  is  that  the  former  does  not  permit  his 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


9 


imagination  to  carry  him  away  from  the  base  of 
facts  without  maintaining  lines  of  communica¬ 
tion,  while  the  latter  soars  serenely  into  the  un¬ 
known,  feeling  secure  in  a  world  that  exists  only 
in  his  imagination.  Nothing  can  harm  him  be¬ 
cause  he  is  invulnerable  to  facts  and  his  imagi¬ 
nation  can  create  protective  expedients  at  will. 
To  be  safe,  the  possibility  may  be  admitted  that 
perhaps  each  individual’s  world  only  exists 
in  his  imagination,  however,  for  the  everyday 
business  of  life  there  is  a  striking  similarity 
among  most  of  the  individual  “worlds”  regard¬ 
ing  that  which  we  call  fact. 

It  is  true  that  much  of  the  progress  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  has  been  due  primarily  to  radicals,  but  the 
blind  imaginings  of  radicalism  aid  in  progress 
only  by  stimulating  controversial  activity  or  by 
mere  accident.  Moderate  imagination  which 
does  not  carry  the  individual  too  far  from  the 
base  of  accepted  facts  is  helpful  to  progress,  but 
an  excessive  amount  hinders  progress  by  the 
wasting  of  energy  in  controversy.  It  is  not  the 
intention  to  disparage  the  value  of  sane  imagi¬ 
nation  which  does  not  blind  the  individual  to  the 
value  and  necessity  of  discovering  and  organiz¬ 
ing  facts.  However,  it  is  likely  that  no  subject 
has  been  abused  more  than  Color  because  its 
effects  are  so  vaguely  understood  that  the  ma- 


10  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


jority  of  persons  arc  inclined  to  hearken  to  the 
sayings  of  the  ultra-imaginative  with  more  or 
less  credulity.  Examples  of  the  harmful  effects 
will  be  glimpsed  occasionally  in  the  following 
chapters. 

It  is  the  object  in  this  brief  work  to  record 
some  of  the  impressions  colors  have  made  upon 
the  human  organism.  In  doing  so,  as  already 
stated,  the  author  does  not  necessarily  commit 
himself  favorably  or  unfavorably,  for  the  very 
good  reason  that  he  appreciates  the  limitations 
of  the  impressions  of  colors  upon  a  single  mind. 
Impressions  are  closely  dependent  upon  asso¬ 
ciations  and  the  latter  are  individualistic  to  a 
certain  degree,  owing  to  their  intimate  depend¬ 
ence  upon  the  past  experiences  of  the  individual, 
so  that  single  minds  can  hardly  be  expected  to 
be  impressed  entirely  alike.  However,  colors 
apparently  have  some  definite  attributes  almost 
universally  recognized,  and  it  is  reasonable  to 
expect  that  a  possibility  exists  for  a  more  or 
less  definite  language  of  color  to  evolve  from 
this  common  beginning  through  continued  culti¬ 
vation.  The  ultimate  language  of  color  will  be 
that  which  arises  from  the  common  consent  of  a 
great  percentage  of  intellects  developed  under 
similar  adaptations,  but  science  must  organize 
this  art  before  much  progress  can  be  made,  just 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  11 


as  it  did  in  the  case  of  music.  Music  as  a  sci¬ 
ence  is  in  advance  of  the  fine  arts,  its  most  es¬ 
sential  principles  being  expressed  mathematic¬ 
ally;  however,  no  scientist  entertains  the  belief 
that  he  can  rival  Mozart  in  the  composition  of 
music  by  virtue  of  his  mathematical  skill  alone. 
Such  is  also  the  viewpoint  of  the  scientist  re¬ 
garding  an  art  purely  of  color,  and  by  the  fore¬ 
going  precedent  and  others  he  is  freed  from 
criticism  if  he  entertains  the  idea  that  it  is  his 
work  to  organize  the  art. 

It  is  with  this  attitude  that  this  present  chaos 
of  color  expression  is  invaded.  Besides  re¬ 
cording  impressions  and  symbolical  uses  of 
color  gleaned  from  many  diversified  sources, 
some  discussions  of  various  aspects  of  the  sub¬ 
ject  will  be  indulged  in.  In  the  latter  there  are 
opportunities  for  other  opinions  and  conclu¬ 
sions,  but  in  dealing  with  a  subject  of  which 
only  fragmentary  and,  at  best,  only  rudimen¬ 
tary  facts  are  positively  known  and  of  whose 
future  we  can  do  little  more  than  to  conjecture, 
a  feeling  of  security  is  entertained  inasmuch  as 
accepted  facts  have  formed  the  foundations. 
There  appears  to  be  a  sufficient  number  of  facts 
available  to  warrant  the  belief  that  a  discussion 
of  the  possibilities  of  a  language  of  color  will  be 
of  value  at  the  present  time.  Furthermore,  it 


12 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


appears  from  the  apparently  consistent  uses  of 
color  in  the  past  and  from  the  trends  at  pres¬ 
ent  that  this  brief  record  and  discussion  will 
aid  in  laying  a  foundation  for  an  ultimate  art 
purely  or  predominantly  of  color,  if  future  de¬ 
velopments  prove  that  the  human  organism  can 
adapt  itself  to  an  understanding  of  such  an  art. 
This  possible  art  will  appeal  to  us  through  the 
language  of  color  and  its  development  will  re¬ 
quire  experiments  directed  by  sane  imagination 
which  is  resigned  to  a  work  extending  for  years 
and  perhaps  for  generations. 


MYTHOLOGY 


“I  feed  the  clouds,  the  rainbows,  and  the  flowers 
With  their  ethereal  colors.” 

— Shelley:  “Hymn  of  Apollo.” 

IN  order  to  begin  with  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  subject,  the  more  important  sources 
of  information  will  be  briefly  reviewed.  Chron¬ 
ologically,  one  of  the  first  sources  is  found  be¬ 
yond  the  outskirts  of  recorded  writing,  in  the 
more  or  less  vague  imaginings  of  mythology. 
This  subject  provides  an  interesting  introduc¬ 
tion  into  the  study  of  the  language  of  color  and 
also  glimpses  of  the  impressions  that  light  and 
color  have  made  upon  the  intellects  of  the  early 
peoples.  Furthermore,  the  crystallization  of 
these  impressions  into  the  permanent  and  rec¬ 
ognized  usage  of  the  present  time  can  be  readily 
witnessed  and  understood.  Colors  have  played 
a  conspicuous  part  in  mythology.  Doubtless 
the  attributes  which  they  are  supposed  to  pos¬ 
sess  were  very  real  to  many  but  even  though  it 
were  originally  realized  that  the  colors  were 
used  symbolically  through  mere  fancy,  they 
have  acquired,  by  continued  association  and 
common  consent,  some  degree  of  signification 
similar  to  words. 


13 


14  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


It  is  impossible  to  separate  the  treatments  of 
color  in  mythology  and  in  symbolism  because 
the  use  of  colors  in  mythology  is  largely  sym¬ 
bolical.  Much  of  the  color  has  been  inserted  by 
artists  and  writers  centuries  after  the  myths 
had  evolved  to  a  more  or  less  stable  state.  At 
this  point  it  appears  desirable  to  discriminate 
between  fable  and  mythology.  The  former  is 
a  story  in  which  characters  take  part  in  a  plot 
and  no  pretense  to  reality  is  entertained.  It  is 
a  narrative  in  which  beings,  sometimes  irra¬ 
tional  or  inanimate,  are  feigned  to  perform  as 
human  beings.  Myths  are  stories  of  anony¬ 
mous  origin  prevalent  chiefly  among  primitive 
peoples  and  accepted  by  them  with  credulity. 
Natural  phenomena  and  various  events  are  ac¬ 
counted  for  by  attributing  them  to  the  super¬ 
natural.  According  to  Jonson, 

“Fables  are  vessels  made  to  order  into  which  a  lesson 
may  be  poured.  Myths  are  born,  not  made.  They  owe 
their  features  to  the  imaginative  efforts  of  a  generation  of 
story-tellers.” 

When  the  origin,  purpose,  and  life  of  myths 
are  considered,  a  view  is  obtained  of  the  im¬ 
portance  of  a  symbolic  use  of  color  which  has 
survived  during  the  long  and  devious  process 
passed  through  by  a  myth  during  its  evolution. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


15 


The  power  of  association  of  color  with  a  certain 
event  for  years  is  exemplified  in  many  cases  at 
the  present  time  and,  therefore,  the  symbolical 
use  of  color  in  mythology  should  not  be  rejected. 
Many  of  these  symbolical  uses  of  color  in  my¬ 
thology,  art,  and  language  have  become  deeply 
rooted  and  have  their  places  in  the  language  of 
color  as  firmly  established  as  words  in  a  dic¬ 
tionary  of  spoken  language. 

Many  of  the  commonplace  facts  and  fables 
preserved  from  generation  to  generation, 
though  perhaps  altered  by  fancy  from  time  to 
time,  form  a  considerable  portion  of  the  mate¬ 
rial  of  literature  and  of  the  representative  arts. 
Sculpture  was  the  finest  art  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  and,  perhaps  for  this  reason,  color  is 
not  as  conspicuous  in  their  mythological  repre¬ 
sentations  as  it  doubtless  would  have  been  if 
the  art  of  painting  had  reached  a  higher  state 
of  development  during  that  early  period.  A 
complete  inquiry  into  these  symbolical  uses  of 
color  would  require  exhaustive  research  because 
of  the  haziness  of  interpretations  and  of  the 
extensiveness  of  the  field  which  includes  all  of 
the  pure  and  applied  arts  in  which  color  is  em¬ 
ployed.  The  indefiniteness  of  color  terminol¬ 
ogy  and  notation  causes  difficulties  in  attempt¬ 
ing  to  interpret  data  rescued  from  obscurity. 


16  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


Endless  complications  arise  owing  to  the  vary¬ 
ing  interpretations  of  the  countless  personali¬ 
ties  involved.  To  do  this  subject  justice  would 
require  years  of  research  in  the  arts,  traditions, 
and  mythology  of  many  peoples  of  all  ages. 
Frankly,  this  has  not  been  attempted,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  fruits  of  such  an  effort  would  be 
sufficiently  valuable  in  contributing  toward  a 
language  of  color  to  justify  the  expenditure  of 
such  an  effort  at  present.  However,  sufficient 
data  of  this  character  have  been  obtained  from 
which  to  forge  a  link  in  the  chain  of  evidence 
and  some  of  this  material  is  presented  in  vari¬ 
ous  chapters  especially  in  those  dealing  with 
the  symbolism  of  colors. 

We  would  gain  more  valuable  data  from  the 
early  writings,  which  were  largely  a  record  of 
myths,  if  color-names  had  been  more  definitely 
developed  in  those  early  periods.  In  fact,  the 
scarcity  of  color-names  especially  those  for  blue 
and  green,  makes  it  necessary  to  interpret  vari¬ 
ous  meanings  which  in  many  cases  can  be  no 
more  certain  than  mere  speculation.  Some  of 
the  early  Greek  myths  which  form  the  basis  of 
excellent  literature,  such  as  the  Iliad  and  Odys¬ 
sey,  are  quite  lacking  in  definite  color-names 
especially  for  some  colors.  The  Vedas  contain 
many  descriptions  of  the  sky  in  all  of  its  vari- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


17 


ety  of  moods,  but  Geiger  says,  “the  fact  that 
the  sky  is  blue  could  never  have  been  gathered 
from  these  poems  by  any  one  who  did  not  al¬ 
ready  know  it  himself.  ”  The  sky  or  heaven 
also  plays  a  prominent  part  in  the  Bible,  occur¬ 
ring  in  the  first  verse  and  in  no  less  than  four 
hundred  other  passages,  yet  the  blue  color  is 
not  mentioned.  Geiger  also  states  that  “the 
ten  books  of  Rigveda  hymns,  though  they  fre¬ 
quently  mention  the  earth,  no  more  bestow  upon 
it  the  epithet  ‘green’  than  on  the  heaven  that 
of  ‘blue.’  ”  In  many  early  writings  no  name 
for  yellow  appears. 

Notwithstanding  this  paucity  of  color-names 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  colors  of  such 
abiding  places  of  gods,  mysteries,  etc.,  as  the 
sky,  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  impressed  those 
beings  of  early  history.  In  many  cases  it  is  a 
simple  task  to  supply  the  color-name  and  to  in¬ 
terpret  the  part  that  color  played  in  the  super¬ 
stitions  and  myths  of  these  beings.  Many  of 
the  characteristics  which  are  bestowed  upon 
colors  at  the  present  time  owe  their  origin  to 
the  imaginings  of  early  peoples  who  lived  at 
a  period  when  knowledge  was  too  scanty  to  cur¬ 
tail,  to  any  appreciable  extent,  the  fancies  of 
these  children. 

Much  color  has  been  introduced  into  mythol- 


18  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


ogy  and  mythological  representations  by  eccle- 
siasts,  artists,  and  story-tellers  of  more  recent 
periods  and  these  also  add  their  influence  in 
molding  the  language  of  color.  Here  and  there 
throughout  this  book  the  influence  of  mythology 
will  be  discerned. 


ASSOCIATION 


ISOLATED  mental  processes  which  become 
related  to  each  other,  but  not  blended  suffi¬ 
ciently  to  lose  their  identity,  are  said  to  be  as¬ 
sociated  and  these  relations  are  termed  “asso¬ 
ciations.”  An  attempt  to  explain  the  mental 
mechanism  of  association  doubtless  would  prove 
futile  even  after  having  devoted  considerable 
space  to  the  discussion  because  psychologists 
are  not  universally  in  accord  with  any  hypoth¬ 
esis  or  theory.  Association  has  been  a  power¬ 
ful  factor  in  the  development  of  our  rudimen¬ 
tary  language  of  color  for  in  many  cases  the 
continued  associations  of  colors  with  certain 
events,  things,  sensations,  ideas,  or  emotions 
have  resulted  in  accepted  significations  of  those 
colors  and  the  associations  no  longer  are  ap¬ 
parent  or  necessary.  In  fact,  all  of  our  ex¬ 
periences  are  the  results  of  an  intermingling  of 
a  vast  complex  of  associations.  The  entire  his¬ 
tory  of  a  human  being  consists  of  endless  chains 
of  associations  traceable  far  back  into  the  early 
periods  of  infancy.  Where  associations  begin 
to  mold  the  development  of  the  human  organ¬ 
ism  and  to  influence  the  mind,  it  is  difficult  to 

19 


20  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


state.  Doubtless  they  begin  with  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  what  we  term  experience. 

Associations  are  of  many  degrees  of  intimacy 
varying  from  those  in  which  the  components  are 
almost  completely  blended  to  those  of  lesser  in¬ 
timacy  in  which  experiences  are  merely  linked. 
They  are  of  far-reaching  influence  in  the  mental 
life  of  mankind  and  perhaps  it  is  safe  to  state 
that,  as  far  as  result  is  concerned,  the  associ¬ 
ations  are  chiefly  of  the  former  or  very  intimate 
type  because  relatively  few  persons  are,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  sufficiently  analytical 
to  diagnose  them.  For  the  present  purpose, 
and  even  for  the  ultimate  application  of  a  lan¬ 
guage  of  color,  this  latter  point  is  of  interest 
because,  fortunately,  any  language,  whether  it 
be  literature,  music,  painting,  or  sculpture,  is 
largely  successful  because  of  the  fusing  of  the 
individual  elements  to  a  considerable  degree. 
One  loses  much  of  the  joy  of  the  normal  appeal 
of  these  arts  if  he  be  continually  awaiting  with 
critical  or  analytical  attitude. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  here  that  psycholo¬ 
gists  tell  us  that  the  probability  of  the  occur¬ 
rence  of  a  certain  mental  state  or  act  due  to  a 
certain  situation  is  dependent  upon  the  “fre¬ 
quency,  recency,  intensity,  and  resulting  satis¬ 
faction  of  its  connection  with  that  situation  or 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  21 


some  part  of  it  and  with  the  whole  frame  of 
mind  in  which  the  situation  is  felt.”  Associ¬ 
ation  of  colors  with  certain  things,  events,  ideas, 
sentiments,  and  emotions,  that  is,  with  certain 
experiences,  has  formed  a  rudimentary  founda¬ 
tion  of  a  language  of  color.  It  may  doubtless 
contribute  much  toward  the  completion  of  the 
structure.  In  fact,  the  very  nature  of  learning, 
or  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect,  is  largely,  if 
not  wholly,  a  matter  of  association.  It  is  true 
that  many  of  the  rudiments  of  a  language  of 
color  are  likely  to  come  originally  from  various 
sources  but  prolonged  association,  that  is,  con¬ 
tinued  practise,  must  be  the  means  of  standard¬ 
izing  this  possible  art. 

The  power  of  continued  association  of  colors 
with  certain  things  or  experiences  can  be  illus¬ 
trated  in  a  great  many  instances.  A  few  sim¬ 
ple  cases  will  be  mentioned  in  order  to  em¬ 
phasize  this  aspect  in  respect  to  the  expressive¬ 
ness  of  color  so  that  this  influence  will  be  borne 
in  mind  in  any  uses  of  color  in  this  manner.  In 
fact,  few  uses  of  color  are  free  from  this  influ¬ 
ence  and  many  wrong  conclusions  are  arrived  at 
by  not  recognizing  its  importance.  For  in¬ 
stance,  in  the  field  of  lighting — of  interest  to 
every  civilized  being — artificial  light  is  tradi¬ 
tionally  of  a  yellowish  or  “warm”  color.  The 


22  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


habit  arising  from  this  association,  throughout 
many  generations,  of  a  yellow-orange  tint  with 
the  light  from  such  sources  as  the  camp-fire,  the 
grease  lamp,  the  tallow  candle,  the  kerosene 
flame,  and  the  electric  incandescent  lamp  is  so 
deeply  rooted  that  discussions  of  lighting  are 
sometimes  faulty  owing  to  a  lack  of  realization 
of  this  influence.  The  habit  is  so  firmly  estab¬ 
lished  that  usually  it  is  not  recognized  as  habit. 
For  example,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  persons  to 
attribute  various  physiological  effects  due  to 
the  “white”  light  from  a  tungsten  lamp  (which 
really  is  not  even  a  near  approach  to  white) 
whereas  these  persons  and  millions  of  others 
and  their  ancestors  since  the  beginning  of  man 
have  lived  uncomplainingly  under  natural  day¬ 
light  for  a  much  greater  percentage  of  their 
conscious  hours.  Inasmuch  as  the  tungsten 
light  is  very  yellowish  in  color  as  compared  with 
daylight  it  is  almost  needless  to  state  that  the 
logic  is  defective  when  physiological  disturb¬ 
ances  are  attributed  to  the  “whiteness”  of  the 
artificial  light  if  these  same  disturbances  are 
not  experienced  in  natural  daylight. 

Turning  to  a  few  simple  associations  of  color, 
one  of  the  most  common  is  the  signification  of 
red  for  danger.  Of  course,  environment  de¬ 
termines  the  interpretation  of  the  significance 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  23 


of  a  color  as  it  does  of  other  experiences,  but  it 
is  unnecessary  to  discuss  this  matter  here.  The 
fact  remains  that  red  in  its  proper  environment 
is  unmistakably  a  signal  for  danger  and  that 
the  color  is  the  important  element  in  effecting 
the  deduction.  Red  is  also  readily  associated 
with  blood  and  its  expressiveness  partakes  of 
the  effects  of  such  association. 

Yellow  or  orange  is  often  significant  of  light 
and  warmth  due  to  the  association  of  this  color 
with  the  sun  or  with  sunlight.  Again,  analysis 
proves  that  sunlight  is  far  from  this  color  ex¬ 
cept  when  altered  at  sunrise  or  sunset  by  the 
absorption  of  smoke,  dust,  etc.,  in  the  excessive 
thickness  of  atmosphere  through  which  the  light 
must  penetrate  when  the  sun  is  at  low  altitudes. 
By  contrast  with  blue  skylight  the  light  from 
the  sun  appears  of  a  yellowish  color  and  doubt¬ 
less  this  effect  of  contrast  has  played  a  great 
part  in  attributing  a  yellow  tint  to  sunlight. 
Direct  sunlight  during  a  great  portion  of  the 
day  apparently  has  a  just  claim  to  being  white 
in  color  although  there  is  no  general  agreement 
as  to  a  standard  white.  Physicists,  at  least,  do 
not  generally  consider  noon  sunlight  on  a  clear 
day  of  a  yellow  tint  and  some  physiologists  and 
psychologists  consider  it  to  be  bluish  in  color 
as  compared  with  a  true  ‘‘physiological”  white. 


24  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


However,  the  sun  does  appear  yellowish  by  con¬ 
trast  with  the  blue  background  of  clear  sky  and 
this  is  the  fact  that  is  of  importance  here. 
Likewise  a  sunlit  cloud  appears  yellow  by  con¬ 
trast  with  the  adjacent  patch  of  clear  blue  sky 
and  a  sunlit  surface  usually  appears  as  though 
it  were  illuminated  by  a  yellowish  light  because 
of  the  contrast  with  the  cold  bluish  color  of 
shadows  which  receive  chiefly  the  bluish  light 
from  tiie  sky.  These  are  excellent  illustrations 
of  the  difference  between  that  which  is  and  that 
which  appears  to  be. 

Green  is  the  most  conspicuous  garb  of  nature, 
and  thus  represents  life.  Perhaps  because  of 
its  freshness  or  newness  in  springtime,  it  is 
associated  very  much  with  this  season  and,  from 
analogy,  there  have  arisen  many  metaphorical 
uses  of  green  symbolizing  youth,  immaturity, 
and  the  early  slage  of  any  career.  Adaptation 
of  the  eye  predominantly  to  this  color  may  be 
responsible  for  the  neutrality  of  green.  It  is 
neither  warm  nor  cold,  but  restful,  and  its  sym¬ 
bolic  uses  sometimes  reflect  the  influences  of 
such  associations. 

The  earliest  associations  of  blue  were  doubt¬ 
less  with  the  sky  or  heavens  and  it  logically  as¬ 
sumes  a  divine  significance.  A  clear  blue  sky 
of  summer  is  the  acme  of  serenity  and  we  are 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  25 


not  surprised  to  find  this  color  endowed  with  a 
corresponding  attribute.  There  are  periods, 
especially  toward  nightfall,  when  the  color  of 
the  sky  approaches  a  darker  shade  of  blue. 
The  quietude  of  approaching  night  aids  by  asso¬ 
ciation  in  bestowing  upon  this  color  the  attri¬ 
bute  of  sedateness.  Poets  often  employ  the 
phrase,  “the  serene  sky,”  and  Southey  uses 
the  word  as  a  noun  in  the  following  association : 

‘‘The  serene  of  heaven.” 

Again,  the  association  of  blue  with  the  color  of 
the  eye,  which  in  turn  is  associated  for  various 
reasons  with  the  intellect,  has  resulted,  perhaps 
with  the  aid  of  the  divine  attribute,  in  the  sig¬ 
nification  of  this  color  for  intelligence. 

Purple,  of  a  hue  resulting  from  mixtures  of 
approximately  equal  parts  of  red  and  blue 
lights,  has  long  been  the  color  of  state.  Why  it 
has  dyed  the  robes  of  royalty  perhaps  can  not 
be  determined  with  certainty.  We  know  that  it 
was  one  of  the  most  costly  colors  in  early  his¬ 
tory  and  this  may  account  for  its  use  as  a  regal 
color  denoting  superiority.  On  the  other  hand, 
purple  is  fairly  neutral — between  warm  and  cold 
— and  appears  to  many  to  possess  a  natural  at¬ 
tribute  of  dignity.  This  latter  conclusion  may 
perhaps  be  due  to  a  secondary  association,  that 


26  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


is,  its  attribute  of  dignity  may  easily  arise  by 
unconsciously  associating  this  color  with  roy¬ 
alty.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  complexity  of  the 
associational  mental  processes  is  often  very 
great.  The  exact  reason  for  the  regal  or  stately 
attribute  which  this  color  is  thought  to  possess 
is  of  secondary  interest  as  compared  with  the 
fact  that  purple  is  readily  associated  with  royal 
garments  and  draperies.  Like  other  colors  it 
has  various  significations  depending  upon  other 
associations. 

White  is  the  logical  color  for  symbolizing 
purity,  innocence,  chastity,  etc.,  because  of  its 
unsullied  appearance.  It  is  unadulterated,  un¬ 
touched,  and  uncontaminated.  A  ready  associ¬ 
ation  of  this  color  with  the  foregoing  and  allied 
attributes  is  provided  by  the  white  mantle  of 
winter.  Is  there  any  person  who  has  gazed 
upon  Nature’s  white  mantle  of  freshly  fallen 
snow  without  commenting  upon  its  purity? 
And  have  not  all  of  us  experienced  feelings  of 
guilt  or  of  resentment  when  this  beautiful  white 
cloak  is  wantonly  soiled  or  disturbed?  We  as¬ 
sociate  liveliness  with  white  but  not  exactly 
gayety,  and  hence  other  attributes  are  bestowed 
upon  this  color  which  partake  of  this  associ¬ 
ation. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  27 


Black  is  the  antithesis  of  white  and  its  asso¬ 
ciation  with  gloom  and  darkness  renders  it  a 
fitting  symbol  for  woe  and  fear.  It  provides  an 
environment  for  evil  deeds,  and  hence  is  em¬ 
blematic  of  crime.  The  primal  instinct  asso¬ 
ciates  darkness  with  hidden  dangers  for  it  con¬ 
cealed  the  enemy,  whether  man  or  wild  beast, 
and  these  appropriate  attributes  have  clung  to 
black  or  darkness  throughout  the  entire  evolu¬ 
tion  of  the  race. 

Gray  is  the  color  of  age  because  the  hair 
of  the  aged  is  “hoary  gray.”  This  association 
also  results  in  a  signification  of  ripened  judg¬ 
ment  and  maturity.  It  naturally  partakes  par¬ 
tially  of  the  attributes  of  its  components,  black 
and  white,  between  which  it  distinctly  exists. 
White  is  enlivening ;  black  is  gloomy ;  and  gray 
is  intermediate,  sad.  The  winter  sky  is  often 
“leaden”  and  we  associate  this  color  with  de¬ 
pression. 

Thus  it  is  seen  by  these  few  simple  examples 
that  association  is  an  extremely  important 
factor  in  the  evolution  of  the  language  of  color. 
There  are  few  instances  of  color  expression 
which  do  not  provide  interesting  problems  for 
analysis  from  the  associational  viewpoint. 
These  problems  present  many  ramifications  and 


28  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


it  is  easy  to  go  astray.  It  has  been  thought 
best  to  avoid  the  extended  discussions  necessary 
tc  present  elaborate  analyses  of  the  associ- 
ational  aspects  and  therefore  these  brief  state¬ 
ments  are  made  with  reservation. 


NATURE 


“The  man 

Whose  eyes  ne’er  open’d  on  the  light  of  heaven 
Might  smile  with  scorn,  while  raptured  vision  tells 
Of  the  gay-eolour’d  radiance  blushing  bright 
O’er  all  creation.” 

— Akenside. 

MANY  eyes  that  have  long  been  “open’d 
on  the  light  of  heaven”  seldom  notice 
more  than  casually  the  wonderful  colors,  ever- 
changing  in  hue  and  value,  which  Nature  pre¬ 
sents  throughout  the  day  and  year.  The  ablest 
pen  can  not  do  justice  to  Nature’s  painting  be¬ 
cause  words  are  not  available  which  describe 
the  endless  variation  of  sequences  and  contrasts 
of  primaries,  secondaries,  and  tertiaries.  This 
must  be  left  to  the  painter  who  possesses  mate¬ 
rials  of  descriptive  power  superior  to  words  for 
such  a  task.  Variety  is  indeed  the  keynote  of 
Nature’s  composition  and  she  lavishes  the  con¬ 
tents  of  an  infinite  palette  with  unceasing  en¬ 
ergy.  No  two  sunsets  are  alike  and  successive 
moments  present  everchanging  expressions  in 
light,  shade,  and  color  which  are  always  full  of 
interest  to  those  who  employ  their  sense  of 

29 


30  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


vision  to  its  full  capacity.  It  is  often  wondered 
why  Nature’s  lighting  is  so  pleasing  but  the 
answer  is  found  in  its  ever-changeableness — its 
variety. 

The  thoughtful  observer  has  doubtless  often 
asked  with  Prior: 

“Why  does  one  climate  and  one  soil  endue 
The  blushing-  poppy  with  an  orange  hue, 

Yet  leave  the  lily  pale,  and  tinge  the  violet  blue?” 

“Ultimately  for  mankind”  is  the  usual  answer 
and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  such  is  true 
when  deduced  from  man’s  idea  of  the  object 
of  creation.  At  least  there  is  much  of  interest 
in  the  colors  of  Nature,  much  that  apparently  is 
tuned  in  sympathy  with  human  moods,  and 
much  that  has  been  the  source  of  our  meager 
language  of  color. 

“To  him  who  in  the  love  of  Nature  holds 
Communion  with  her  visible  forms,  she  speaks 
A  various  language;  for  her  gayer  hours 
She  has  a  voice  of  gladness  and  a  smile 
And  eloquence  of  beauty,  and  she  glides 
Into  his  darker  musings,  with  a  mild 
And  healing  sympathy,  that  steals  away 
Their  sharpness,  ere  he  is  aware.  When  thoughts 
Of  the  last  bitter  hour  come  like  a  blight 
O’er  thy  spirit,  and  sad  images 
Of  the  stem  agony,  and  shroud,  and  pall, 

And  breathless  darkness,  and  the  narrow  house, 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


31 


Make  thee  to  shudder,  and  grow  sick  at  heart, 

Go  forth  under  the  open  sky,  and  list 
To  Nature’s  teachings,  while  from  all  around 
Earth  and  her  waters,  and  the  depths  of  air, 

Comes  a  still  voice.” 

— Bryant. 

And  in  the  words  of  Emerson, 

“Nature  is  a  setting  that  fits  equally  well  with  a  comic 
or  a  mourning  piece.” 

That  colors  perform  many  functions  in  Na¬ 
ture  has  been  suggested  or  proved  by  science. 
The  colors  of  flowers  doubtless  attract  insects 
that  gather  food  and  in  return  aid  in  polleniza- 
tion.  It  is  fairly  evident  that  the  colors  of  many 
animals  perform  the  positive  function  of  pro¬ 
tective  concealment.  But  it  appears  that  a  gen¬ 
eral  office  of  Nature’s  melodies  in  fine  grada¬ 
tions  of  hues,  tints,  and  shades,  and  harmonies 
of  contrast  is  to  please  the  eye  of  the  beholder 
and  to  touch  the  emotional  strings  of  the  finer 
sensibilities.  At  any  rate,  the  specific  offices 
of  colors  in  Nature  are  not  of  the  chief  interest 
here  but  the  fact  that  Nature  has  affected 
throughout  the  ages,  those  observing,  thought¬ 
ful,  and  sensitive  individuals  who  have  directed 
the  mental  progress  of  mankind.  It  is  there¬ 
fore  of  considerable  moment  to  inquire  briefly 
into  this  source  which  doubtless  always  has  been 


32  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


a  mighty  influence  upon  the  intellect  of  man, 
especially  in  the  early  ages  when  mythology  and 
superstition  were  rampant,  and  will  continue  to 
be  full  of  meaning  and  enjoyment  to  those  pos¬ 
sessing  responsive  sensibilities.  In  this  chap¬ 
ter  only  glimpses  of  Nature’s  part  in  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  our  rudimentary  language  of 
color  will  be  provided ;  however,  in  later  chap¬ 
ters  more  specific  data  will  be  presented. 

In  making  this  inquiry  into  the  possible  con¬ 
tribution  of  Nature  to  the  language  of  color  it 
appears  quite  evident  that  the  seasons  and  the 
progress  of  the  year,  season  by  season,  have 
been  of  dominating  appeal  to  the  imagination. 
In  a  similar  manner  the  relations  of  light  and 
color  to  the  various  portions  of  the  day  from 
dawn  to  night  have  not  escaped  the  observation 
of  mankind. 

The  conspicuous  and  dominating  color  of 
springtime  is  green.  It  is  at  this  season  that 
green  is  fresh,  abundant,  and  unmixed  with  the 
coloring  of  ripening  crops  or  of  sun-burnt  fol¬ 
iage.  It  is  also  dominatingly  conspicuous  at 
this  time  perhaps  owing  to  its  welcome  advent 
after  months  of  black,  white,  and  subdued  color. 
Spring  being  the  beginning  of  another  year  as 
applied  to  Flora’s  yield,  its  predominant  color 
consistently  symbolizes  cheerfulness,  hope, 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  33 


freshness,  youth,  inexperience,  and  immaturity. 
This  season  is  sometimes  signified  by  the  prom¬ 
ising  bud  and  also  has  been  personified  as 
“bright,  infantine,  and  crowned  with  flowers.” 
White  is  the  usual  color  of  virginity  because 
of  its  purity  and  unblemished  character,  but 
the  poets  in  the  following  lines  apply  the  term 
to  spring  quite  consistently  and  befittingly  as¬ 
sociated  with  this  immature  season : 

“While  virgin  Spring,  by  Eden’s  flood, 

Unfolds  her  tender  mantle  green.” 

— Burns. 

“And  softly  came  the  fair  young  queen 
O’er  mountain,  dale  and  dell; 

And  where  her  golden  light  was  seen 
An  emerald  shadow  fell.” 

— Leland. 

Summer  is  but  the  continuation  and  merging 
of  spring  or  youth  into  autumn  or  maturity. 
It  has  been  personified  by  a  female  figure  with 
a  lapful  of  roses  and  in  other  ways  equally  full 
of  meaning. 

“When  Nature,  prodigal  of  flowers 
Holds  her  own  court  ’mid  rosy  bowers; 

Where  the  soft  radiant  summer’s  sky 
Spreads  its  ethereal  canopy 
Deepening  while  mellowing  its  hue 
In  its  intensity  of  blue.” 


— M.  A.  Brown. 


34  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


This  brings  to  mind  one  of  the  most  impell¬ 
ing  aspects  of  Nature — the  sky.  Who  can 
imagine  anything  more  serene  than  a  clear  blue 
sky  of  a  summer’s  day?  Blue,  the  color  of  a 
clear  sky,  is  used  to  symbolize  serenity,  tran¬ 
quillity,  constancy,  and  fidelity.  In  early  my¬ 
thology  the  blue  firmament  held  the  heavens  and 
was  the  abode  of  divine  beings.  It  is  therefore 
consistent  that  this  color  be  associated  with 
divine  love,  generosity,  and  intelligence.  The 
darker  shades  of  this  color  have  been  thought  to 
possess  the  attribute  of  melancholy,  perhaps 
either  through  association  with  the  sedateness 
of  the  darkened  blue  sky  of  approaching  night 
or  of  the  bluish  shade  of  Nature’s  solitudes. 
The  sky  gives  character  and  expression  to  every 
landscape  and  arouses  sentiment  in  the  finer 
sensibilities.  It  indicates  the  calm  after  the 
storm  and  in  infinite  ways  “betrays  the  latent 
emotions  of  the  spirit  of  Nature.” 

The  green  of  spring  prevails  throughout 
summer  and  as  the  color  begins  to  give  way 
to  the  yellow,  gold,  and  brown  of  approaching 
autumn,  the  effect  is  as  though  the  scene  were 
gently  touched  by  the  hand  of  sadness. 

“  ’Tis  sweet  and  sad  tbe  latest  notes  to  hear 
Of  distant  music  dying  on  the  ear; 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  35 


’Tis  sweet  to  hear  expiring  summer’s  sigh, 

Thro’  forests  tinged  with  russet,  wail  and  die.” 

— Joanna  Baillie. 

Early  autumn,  with  its  riot  of  yellow,  gold, 
brown,  red,  and  purple  mixed  with  some  linger¬ 
ing  green  of  summer,  is  a  natural  representa¬ 
tion  of  maturity,  fruitfulness,  and  strength.  It 
has  been  personified  as  fruitful. 

‘‘Rich  the  bounty  Autumn  brings.” 

— H.  J.  Williams. 

In  the  following  passage  the  poet  has  painted 
the  color  and  mood  of  autumn  in  a  masterful 
manner  and  has  given  us  an  excellent  example 
of  the  expressiveness  of  word  coloring. 

“But  see  the  fading  many-colourid  woods, 

Shade  deepening  over  shade,  the  country  round 
Embrown,  a  crowded  umbrage  dark  and  dun 
Of  every  hue.” 

— Thomson. 

The  meditation  of  maturity  has  been  ex¬ 
pressed  by  some  one  thus : — 

“Go,  mark  in  meditative  mood  where  Autumn 
Steals  o’er  his  woods  with  mellowing  touch,  like  Time 
Ripening  the  tints  of  some  delicious  Claude.” 

The  late  Autumn  is  almost  universally  char¬ 
acterized  with  a  melancholy  mood  possibly  not 


36  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


inherent  in  autumn  itself  but  inspired  by- 
thoughts  of  the  cold  and  bleak  months  near  at 
hand  which  signify  the  decay  and  death  of  the 
year. 

“The  leaves  of  life  are  falling  one  by  one 

The  woods  once  thick  and  green  ai-e  brown  and  sere ; 

And  youth  with  all  her  bounteous  hours  is  done, 

And  age  is  here.” 

— E.  N.  Bland. 

Some  one  has  beautifully  expressed  his  senti¬ 
ment  of  Autumn  thus : 

“  ’Tis  a  scene 

That  o’er  us  sheds  the  mild  and  musing  calm 
Of  wisdom,  breathes  as  noblest  bards  have  own’d 
Poetic  inspiration,  bids  us  taste 
The  lonely  sweetness  of  a  walk  with  her 
By  Milton  wooed,  ‘divinest  melancholy.’ 

And  wouldst  thou  go,  unfeeling,  and  prefer 
The  gorgeous  blaze  of  summer  to  the  charm — 

The  dying  charm  of  Autumn’s  farewell  smile?” 

During  autumn  there  seems  to  be  a  rivalry  of 
moods,  apparently  the  gayety  of  summer  un¬ 
willingly  succumbing  to  the  sobriety  of  autumn. 
The  poet  has  beautifully  suggested  this  in  the 
following: 

“Sorrow  and  the  scarlet  leaf, 

Sad  thoughts  and  sunny  weather; 

Ah  me!  this  glory  and  this  grief 
Agree  not  well  together!” 

— T.  W.  Parsons, 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  37 


This  general  sentiment  is  also  expressed  by 
Mary  Clemmer: 

“The  Indian  Summer,  the  dead  Summer’s  soul.” 

Many  examples  could  be  presented  to  illustrate 
how  this  autumnal  season,  the  most  attractive 
of  all  the  seasons  to  poets  and  painters,  is  as¬ 
sociated  in  ideas  and  how  the  dominant  colors 
become  possessed  of  appropriate  attributes. 

Winter  with  her  mantle  of  gray,  white,  and 
subdued  tertiaries  has  been  variously  and  befit- 
tingly  represented,  but,  in  a  dominating  sense 
here  in  respect  to  the  year,  as  symbolic  of  old 
age,  decrepitude,  and  death.  Its  influence  also 
arises  from  its  cold  and  bleak  aspects  and  from 
associating  with  it  the  white  mantle  of  ice  and 
snow.  Like  other  seasons  it  has  dominating  in¬ 
fluences  and  is  capable  of  reflecting  to  a  certain 
degree  the  moods  of  mankind.  Therefore  its 
moods  are  also  sometimes  lively  but  not  gay  as 
the  summer  season. 

Winter  is  often  represented  as  sad  and  even 
sullen  perhaps  through  the  bleakness  of  the 
landscape  and  the  gray  skies. 

“See,  Winter  comes,  to  rule  the  year, 

Sullen  and  sad,  with  all  his  rising  train; 

Vapors,  and  Clouds,  and  Storms.” 


■Thomson. 


38  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


“Dread  Winter  spreads  his  latest  glooms.” 

— Idem. 

“Every  winter, 

When  the  great  sun  has  turned  his  face  away, 

The  earth  goes  down  into  a  vale  of  grief, 

And  fasts,  and  weeps,  and  shrouds  herself  in  sables, 
Leaving  her  wedding-garlands  to  decay — 

Then  leaps  in  spring  to  his  returning  kisses.” 

— Charles  Kingsley. 

And  to  complete  the  cycle  of  the  year  the  fol¬ 
lowing  is  presented  in  which  the  poet  contrasts 
winter  and  spring: 

“Gentle  Spring! — in  sunshine  clad, 

Well  dost  thou  thy  power  display! 

For  Winter  maketh  the  light  heart  sad 
And  thou, — thou  makest  the  sad  heart  gay.” 

— Charles  d’Orleans. 

The  influence  of  natural  seasons  and  portions 
of  the  day,  and  accordingly  their  corresponding 
dominant  colors,  are  indicated  by  many  meta¬ 
phorical  relations  found  in  literature.  On  this 
point  Field  has  written  as  follows: 

“The  analogy  of  the  natural  series  of  colors,  with  the 
course  of  the  day  and  the  seasons,  coincides  with  the  ages 
of  man  or  the  seasons  of  life  and  adapts  it  to  express  them 
in  the  hues  and  shades  of  draperies  and  effects;  from  the 
white  or  light  of  the  morn  or  dawn  of  innocuous  infancy, 
through  all  the  colors,  ages,  and  stages  of  human  life,  to 
the  black  and  dark  night  of  guilt,  age,  despair  and  death.” 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  39 


He  continues  and  draws  closer  analogies  be¬ 
tween  human  life,  with  its  attendant  moods,  and 
the  expressions  of  Nature.  The  language  of 
color  is  apparently  universal  and  though  our 
understanding  is  meager,  there  is  a  consistency 
which  has  been  an  incentive  to  this  study  and  to 
this  attempt  to  record  it  briefly. 

It  appears  to  the  author  that,  in  reference  to 
flowers,  the  white  and  lighter  tints  predomi¬ 
nate  in  early  spring  and  as  summer  progresses, 
yellow  and  stronger  tints  appear  more  in  evi¬ 
dence  until  in  late  summer  red,  purple,  and 
blue  appear  in  more  abundance,  the  whole  reach¬ 
ing  a  climax  in  early  autumn  in  a  riot  of  color. 
This  impression  may  not  be  supported  by  care¬ 
ful  investigation,  but  is  presented  here  for  what¬ 
ever  value  it  may  have.  This  point  cannot  be 
passed  by  without  quoting  the  following  ap¬ 
propriate  lines  whose  authorship  is  unknown: 

“Already  now  the  snow-drop  does  appear, 

The  first  pale  blossom  of  the  unripen’d  year. 

Fair  Flora’s  breath,  by  some  transforming  power, 
Hath  changed  an  icicle  into  a  flower; 

Its  name  and  hue  the  scentless  plant  retains, 

And  winter  lingers  in  its  icy  veins.” 

In  a  manner  analogous  to  that  of  the  seasons, 
the  dawn,  morning,  noon-day,  sunset,  and  night, 
with  their  characteristic  colors  and  light  effects, 


40  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


have  influenced  the  emotional  nature  of  man¬ 
kind.  Sufficient  examples  of  these  influences 
are  found  in  succeeding  chapters.  Through¬ 
out  Nature  all  colors  are  found  in  varying 
abundance  as  apparently  coincides  with  her 
moods  and  with  her  ideas  of  harmony.  Per¬ 
haps  Nature  does  not  harmonize  color  at  all  but, 
by  gradual  adaptation,  the  slowly  evolving  hu¬ 
man  organism  may  adopt  its  laws  of  harmony 
and  interpret  the  powers  of  colors  according  to 
the  ruling  archeus — the  guiding  hand  of  Nature. 
At  any  rate,  the  ultimate  result  is  unaltered  and 
we  can  join  in  this  sentiment  of  the  poet, 

“Who  can  paint 
Like  Nature?  Can  imagination  boast 
Amid  her  gay  creation,  hues  like  these? 

What  hand  can  mix  them  with  that  matchless  skill, 
And  lay  them  on  so  delicately  fine, 

And  lose  them  in  each  other,  as  appears 
In  every  bud  that  blows?” 


PRIMITIVE  LANGUAGE 


IT  is  often  remarked  that  the  prevailing  color- 
names  found  in  the  languages  of  primitive 
races  and  in  the  vocabularies  of  children  can 
be  assumed  to  represent  the  colors  which  affect 
these  beings  most  powerfully.  Usually  deduc¬ 
tions  of  the  orders  of  preference  are  made  by 
noting  the  relative  frequencies  of  occurrence  of 
the  various  color-names.  It  should  be  obvious 
that  such  a  criterion  is  dangerous  if  depended 
upon  too  confidently  in  a  study  of  the  expres¬ 
sive  powers  of  colors.  The  present  subject  is 
introduced  here  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  em¬ 
phasizing  the  danger  of  placing  too  much  value 
upon  information  from  this  source.  It  is  rea¬ 
sonable  to  suppose  that  the  color-names  in  the 
vocabularies  of  primitive  beings  indicate  in  a 
general  manner  the  more  powerful  colors. 
However,  these  are  known  through  other 
sources  including  ordinary  observation  so  that 
such  evidence  is  at  best  only  corroborative. 
The  limitations  of  interpretations  from  this 
source  are  due,  among  other  reasons,  to  the  in¬ 
completeness  of  knowledge  regarding  the  color- 
vision  of  these  primitives  and  the  influence  of 


42  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


mental  growth  in  the  case  of  the  child.  There 
are  many  thousands  of  different  colors  dis¬ 
tinguishable  by  an  adult  at  the  present  time; 
in  fact,  in  a  broad  sense,  wherein  grays  are  con¬ 
sidered  as  colors,  the  number  of  different  color 
sensations  that  can  be  experienced  is  perhaps 
several  hundred  thousand.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  the  immature  or  primitive  intellect  only 
comprehends  a  few  of  these  and  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  most  striking  colors  will  be 
recognized  first. 

The  finer  feeling  toward  colors,  that  is,  the 
recognition  of  their  beauty,  depends  largely 
upon  the  taste  of  the  beholder  and  taste,  ac¬ 
cording  to  civilized  standards,  is  of  course 
largely  a  matter  of  civilization.  The  savage  or 
the  child  prefers  brilliant  colors  while  more  re¬ 
fined  and  matured  persons  prefer  to  have  the 
colors  about  them  somewhat  subdued.  The 
symphony  of  greenish,  silvery  grays  of  a  Corot 
does  not  appeal  to  the  primitive  mind.  Fur¬ 
thermore,  it  should  be  noted  that  preference 
alone  does  not  reveal  the  attributes  or  the  ulti¬ 
mate  powers  of  expression  possessed  by  colors. 
Even  refined  persons  when  choosing  colors  for 
“color’s  sake”  alone  are  found  to  prefer  the 
purer,  highly  saturated  colors  to  tints  and 
shades  yet  they  do  not  surround  themselves  pro- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  43 


fusely  with  these  colors.  The  fact  that  colors 
of  relatively  high  purity  are  in  general  much 
more  preferred  than  colors  containing  com¬ 
ponents  of  other  hues  or  of  white  or  “  black,” 
has  been  quite  conclusively  shown  by  actual  ex¬ 
periments  conducted  by  various  investigators 
as  indicated  in  the  third  section  of  this  book. 
Other  data  of  interest  at  this  point  are  also  in¬ 
corporated  in  later  sections. 

Philologists  have  shown  that  many  of  the 
languages  of  antiquity  are  characterized  by  in¬ 
definiteness  and  paucity  of  color-names.  In 
many  cases  red  and  yellow  have  appeared 
earlier  than  names  for  green  and  blue.  Some 
have  thought  this  to  be  due  to  a  subnormal 
visual  sensitivity  to  the  latter  two  colors  as 
compared  with  that  of  the  former,  however,  the 
tenability  of  this  hypothesis  is  doubtful  because, 
according  to  this  view,  it  must  be  assumed  that 
the  color-sense  is  of  comparatively  recent  acqui¬ 
sition  and  that  it  developed  from  red  and  yellow 
through  green  to  blue.  It  cannot  be  argued,  a 
priori,  that  the  development  of  color-names  has 
always  kept  pace  with  the  development  of  color 
sensitivity.  Furthermore,  it  appears  incredi¬ 
ble  that  a  function  so  highly  developed  as  color- 
vision  could  have  evolved  in  the  course  of  a  hun¬ 
dred  generations.  Finally,  it  must  be  noted  that 


44 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


many  of  the  lower  animals  appear  to  be  able  to 
distinguish  practically  all  colors  visible  to  man¬ 
kind  so  it  is  likely  that  even  the  most  primitive 
race  of  mankind  possessed  a  fairly  well-devel¬ 
oped  color-sense.  The  explanation  of  the  scar¬ 
city  of  color-names  in  primitive  languages  is 
more  likely  found  in  the  absence  of  a  need  for 
them.  Those  colors  which  are  closely  associ¬ 
ated  with  the  lives  of  the  primitive  beings  were 
the  first  to  receive  names.  Inasmuch  as  most 
of  the  records  of  color  expression  of  the  primi¬ 
tives  are  not  found  among  the  remnants  of 
language  but  among  the  relics  of  handiwork 
available,  it  is  significant  to  note  that  red  and 
yellow  pigments  were  more  common  than  the 
green  and  blue  during  the  early  periods.  In 
fact  it  is  quite  reasonable  to  suppose  that  blue 
pigments  were  very  rare  before  civilization 
reached  a  much  higher  stage.  There  is  some 
evidence  obtained  by  experiment  that  children 
name  the  colors  red,  yellow,  green,  and  blue 
more  often  correctly  than  other  common  colors 
and  that  they  apparently  prefer  these  colors 
more  than  others. 

It  appears  of  interest  to  review  briefly  the 
data  concerning  the  color-vision  and  the  color- 
language  of  primitive  beings  and  of  children. 
Gladstone  noted  the  indefiniteness  of  the  color 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  45 


terminology  employed  by  Homer  and  concluded 
that  the  ideas  of  color  which  prevailed  during 
the  Homeric  age  were  different  from  those  of 
the  present  time.  In  the  early  Chinese  and 
Semitic  writings,  in  the  Indian  Vedic  hymns 
and  Norse  Eddas,  and  even  in  Greek  literature, 
a  paucity  of  color-names  is  apparent  especially 
those  for  green  and  blue.  From  such  studies 
Geiger  concluded  that  the  color-sense  for  red 
evolved  first,  then  yellow,  next  green,  and  lastly 
blue.  Others  arrived  at  similar  conclusions 
from  the  same  kind  of  researches.  However, 
such  views  have  been  severely  criticized  because 
it  has  been  shown  that  many  modern  literary 
works  exhibit  the  same  characteristics  as  the 
ancient  writings. 

Philological  evidence  in  this  case  is  open  to 
severe  criticism  although  it  doubtless  should  be 
given  some  attention.  Examinations  of  vari¬ 
ous  primitive  people  by  modern  scientists  have 
revealed  the  fact  that,  while  the  same  word  may 
be  applied  to  black,  blue,  and  other  dark  colors, 
the  primitive  subjects  are  able  to  sort  these  dif¬ 
ferent  colors  correctly. 

The  Egyptians  employed  green  and  blue  pig¬ 
ments  long  before  the  Homeric  age  and  beads 
of  these  colors  have  been  found  even  in  the  pre¬ 
historic  tombs  constructed  by  this  race.  Such 


46 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


facts  have  been  used  by  some  to  disprove  the 
existence  of  color  defects  in  the  vision  of  these 
early  peoples.  It  has  been  stated  that  blue  has 
been  used  incongruously  in  Egyptian  statues 
and  even  in  the  Acropolis  since  the  time  of 
Homer,  but  such  incongruities  cannot  be  a  cer¬ 
tain  indication  of  an  inability  to  distinguish 
colors. 

Rivers  extensively  studied  the  color-vision  of 
primitive  tribes  and  showed  that  the  languages 
of  these  uncivilized  and  primitive  peoples  in¬ 
dicated  different  stages  of  evolution  of  color- 
names  which  closely  correspond  with  the  prog¬ 
ress  of  evolution  of  color  terminology,  as  con¬ 
cluded  by  Geiger  and  others  from  studies  of 
early  writings.  For  instance,  certain  Austral¬ 
ian  natives  used  one  color-name  for  red,  orange, 
and  purple;  another  for  black,  blue,  and  violet; 
and  a  third  for  white,  yellow,  and  green.  Other 
tribes  used  a  definite  term  for  red;  a  less  defi¬ 
nite  name  for  yellow ;  one  name  for  green,  black, 
and  white;  and  another  name  for  black,  blue, 
and  violet.  Some  primitives  gave  the  same 
name  to  green,  violet,  and  black. 

Other  natives  appeared  to  have  advanced  into 
further  stages  of  development  of  color  language 
there  being  four  fairly  distinct  stages  detected 
by  Rivers  which  corresponded  with  the  general 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  47 


intellectual  development  and  degree  of  civiliza¬ 
tion.  Those  of  the  lowest  stage  had  names  for 
red,  white,  and  black.  In  the  next  stage  there 
appeared  an  additional  name  for  yellow  and  an 
indication  of  one  for  green.  Those  primitives 
in  the  third  stage  had  a  definite  term  for  green 
and  a  less  definite  one  for  blue.  In  the  highest 
stage  there  were  names  for  green  and  blue  al¬ 
though  some  confusion  appeared  to  exist.  In 
the  primitive  languages  that  have  been  ex¬ 
amined,  which  included  those  of  primitive  tribes 
of  Australia,  Africa,  Asia,  and  South  America, 
the  absence  of  a  definite  word  for  blue  is  quite 
common  and  often  the  same  term  is  used  for 
green  and  blue.  The  extensive  investigations 
performed  by  scientists  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  tend  to  corroborate  the  general  conclu¬ 
sions  already  presented.  Much  of  this  work 
was  done  with  the  study  of  color-vision  as  the 
chief  object.  However,  from  the  viewpoint  of 
this  book  the  relation  of  color-names  to  the  de¬ 
gree  of  intellectual  and  cultural  development  is 
of  greater  interest. 

Environment  doubtless  has  been  a  great  in¬ 
fluence  upon  the  sensibility  of  the  human  or¬ 
ganism  to  various  colors  and  consequently  upon 
the  introduction  of  color-names  into  languages. 
Our  attention  is  drawn  to  rare  occurrences  more 


48  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


decidedly  than  to  those  that  are  common.  Red 
is  relatively  rare  in  nature  and  therefore  when 
it  occurs,  as  in  such  a  case  as  a  red  flower  amid 
sylvan  surroundings,  the  attention  is  attracted. 
The  red  object  is  mentally  noted  and  remem¬ 
bered  while  the  green  surroundings  make  little 
or  no  impression  excepting  upon  those  who  are 
exceptionally  observing  and  analytical.  Thus 
it  is  possible  that  the  primitives  of  the  lower 
types  would  naturally  have  a  name  for  red  but 
none  for  green  and  blue  which  occur  in  vastly 
abundant  areas  in  Nature.  Red  objects,  be¬ 
sides  being  relatively  rare  in  Nature,  have  an¬ 
other  claim  to  the  attention  of  the  primitives 
because  they  often  represent  objects  of  impor¬ 
tance  in  the  daily  life  of  these  beings.  For  in¬ 
stance,  such  things  as  animals,  iron,  stone,  fruits, 
and  meats  are  not  uncommonly  red  in  color. 
The  green  foliage  which  is  so  abundant  and  ex¬ 
tensive  in  area  in  most  summer  and  tropical 
landscapes  abounds  in  a  variety  of  shades  and 
hues.  This  demands  some  degree  of  discrimi¬ 
nating  ability  so  that  it  is  not  surprising  to  find 
at  least  a  slight  degree  of  development  of  per¬ 
ception  for  green  colors  among  the  primitives. 
However,  the  extensive  areas  of  the  blue  such  as 
the  sky  and  the  sea  are  not  striking  because  they 
are  so  commonplace  and  unsaturated  in  color. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  49 


Furthermore,  blue  is  not  commonly  associated 
with  objects  of  necessity  or  of  practical  impor¬ 
tance  to  the  primitive  being. 

It  can  be  concluded  from  the  foregoing  that 
color  nomenclature  usually  begins  with  red  and 
progresses  in  general  toward  the  blue  end  of 
the  spectrum.  In  the  early  stages  of  its  evolu¬ 
tion  the  transitional  colors  such  as  orange,  blue- 
green,  and  violet  are  passed  by.  Nearly  all 
languages  have  a  name  for  red ;  most  of  them 
have  one  for  yellow;  but  comparatively  few 
have  a  conventional  word  for  green  and  fewer 
have  one  for  blue.  It  is  not  uncommon  in  primi¬ 
tive  languages  to  find  the  same  name  applied  to 
colors  closely  related  in  the  spectrum. 

Some  of  the  American  Indian  languages  have 
no  color-names,  the  color  of  an  object  usually 
being  described  as  being  like  that  of  another 
more  common  object.  In  the  absence  of  fixed 
comparison  standards  it  is  seen  that  color  lan¬ 
guage  is  in  a  very  primitive  state,  subject  to 
change  at  any  time. 

Woodworth  suggests  the  possibility  of  sev¬ 
eral  stages  in  the  establishment  of  a  color-name. 
In  the  first  stage  there  are  no  conventional 
names  for  colors  but  comparisons  of  color  are 
made  in  terms  of  the  colors  of  common  objects. 
In  the  next  stage  the  usage  centers  about  some 


50  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


comparison  standard  so  that  all  objects  having 
approximately  the  same  color  are  said  to  pos¬ 
sess  the  color  of  a  particular  object.  Abstract 
names  begin  to  appear  in  a  later  stage  and  no 
longer  are  the  particular  comparison  objects 
thought  of  when  their  names  are  used  in  desig¬ 
nating  colors.  An  example  of  the  last  two 
stages  is  the  word  “ orange’ ’  in  our  vocabulary 
of  color.  In  still  later  stages  the  color-names 
evolved  in  this  manner  may  become  obsolete  as 
applied  to  the  object  and  remain  exclusively  as 
the  name  of  the  color.  Some  of  these  latter 
cases  are  very  interesting  from  the  viewpoint 
of  the  evolution  of  color  meaning. 

Doubtless  the  usage  of  a  color-name  becomes 
fixed  if  the  name  is  employed  sufficiently;  that 
is,  if  the  need  for  it  is  quite  urgent.  It  does 
not  appear  essential  that  an  absence  of  a  defi¬ 
nitely  established  usage  indicates  an  absence  of 
high  sensitivity  to  colors  because  the  common 
color-names  of  the  most  elaborate  languages 
cover  many  actually  different  colors.  For  this 
reason  the  first  primitive  color  terminology  per¬ 
sists  in  the  vocabularies  of  those  who  do  not 
find  it  necessary  to  describe  colors  with  ac¬ 
curacy.  Many  of  the  difficulties  encountered  in 
primitive  languages,  in  describing  colors,  per¬ 
sist  in  modern  languages  of  highly  civilized  peo- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  51 


pies.  For  example,  most  persons  confuse  and 
misname  the  colors  between  blue  and  green. 

The  modern  languages  of  the  highly  civilized 
peoples  are  rich  in  names  for  various  parts  of 
the  spectrum.  Our  language  is  far  richer  in 
abstract  names  for  the  colors  of  the  red  end  of 
the  spectrum,  that  is,  from  yellow  to  red,  than 
for  colors  in  the  blue  region.  Woodworth  pre¬ 
sents  various  names  in  which  the  color  ref¬ 
erence  is  thoroughly  dissociated,  in  common 
usage,  from  any  specific  object.  For  reds  and 
yellows  and  their  various  tints  and  shades  he 
presents:  red,  rubicund,  russet,  roan,  auburn, 
carmine,  crimson,  scarlet,  brown,  bay,  sorrel, 
dun,  yellow,  tawny,  sallow,  lurid.  To  these  he 
suggests  the  possibility  of  adding  buff,  maroon, 
vermilion,  and  perhaps  such  words  as  magenta, 
since  the  objects  to  which  these  names  primarily 
refer  are  unknown  to  most  persons.  For  the 
greens,  blues,  and  violets  he  presents  the  fol¬ 
lowing:  green,  verdant,  blue,  azure,  purple, 
livid.  It  is  thus  noted  that  names  for  red  and 
yellow  not  only  develop  first  in  an  evolving  lan¬ 
guage  but  names  for  these  colors  predominate 
even  in  highly  developed  modern  languages. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  names  for  red 
and  yellow  are  in  greater  demand  in  primitive 
language  .because  these  are  colors  associated 


52 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


very  predominantly  with  things  of  great  im¬ 
portance  in  the  lives  of  primitive  beings. 
These  colors  are  associated  with  animals  and 
it  is  said  that  certain  African  tribes  name  them 
without  difficulty  but  they  cannot  name  colors 
such  as  blue  and  green  although  they  can  dis¬ 
tinguish  them.  As  Woodworth  states:  “The 
absence  of  a  name  for  a  sensory  quality  does  not 
point  to  the  absence  of  the  quality.  The  case  of 
smell  is  convincing.  Odors  are  vivid  experi¬ 
ences  yet  there  is  almost  complete  absence  of 
abstract  odor  names  from  all  languages. 

Many  objections  have  been  offered  against 
the  use  of  such  data  as  the  occurrence  of  color- 
names  in  primitive  languages  in  drawing  con¬ 
clusions  as  to  color  blindness  or  other  facts 
of  color  vision.  These  objections  are  well 
founded.  It  is  likely  that  a  color-name  is  intro¬ 
duced  into  a  language  only  when  it  is  necessary, 
and  necessity  is  not  essentially  related  to  color 
sensibility.  However,  from  the  viewpoint  of 
the  impressiveness  of  colors  upon  the  human  in¬ 
tellect,  the  occurrence  of  color-names  in  lan¬ 
guage  is  of  great  importance  because  it  appears 
fairly  certain  that  colors  having  the  ability  to 
impress  the  intellect  powerfully  will  naturally 
be  provided  with  names.  For  this  reason  the 
foregoing  discussion  has  been  presented. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  53 


In  closing  this  brief  chapter  it  is  of  interest  to 
discuss  the  impression  of  colors  upon  the  primi¬ 
tive  intellect  of  the  child  because  many  accept 
the  analogy  between  the  development  of  the 
faculties  of  the  child  and  the  evolution  of  the 
race  at  large.  Darwin  drew  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  child  does  not  possess  the  ability 
of  distinguishing  colors  until  after  it  is  able  to 
discriminate  most  common  objects  correctly. 
The  results  of  some  elaborate  investigations  in¬ 
dicate  that  the  normal  child  is  unable  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  colors  accurately  until  nearly  two  years 
of  age.  It  is  apparent  that  the  child  is  able  to 
distinguish  colors  before  it  is  able  to  name 
them.  Others  have  claimed  that  the  child  be¬ 
gins  to  appreciate  colors  as  early  as  in  the  fifth 
month.  Experiments  of  this  kind  are  difficult 
to  interpret  and  various  methods  that  have  been 
used  appear  to  yield  different  results.  Color- 
vision,  association,  brightness  and  novelty  play 
important  but  more  or  less  undetermined  roles. 
Without  entering  into  an  elaborate  analysis  of 
the  data  available  no  more  definite  statement 
can  be  made  than  that  the  child  is  impressed 
more  with  the  striking  colors  and  that  bright¬ 
ness  and  novelty  are  important  factors.  Al¬ 
though  the  data  obtained  by  different  methods 
with  young  children  of  various  ages,  from  three 


54  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


months  to  two  years,  do  not  agree,  it  appears 
safe  to  conclude  that  among  the  various  colors 
red  is  the  more  striking  to  the  child  than  blue 
and  is  named  correctly  at  an  earlier  age. 


LITERATURE 


“Poets  are  Painters; 

Words  are  their  paint  by  winch  their  thoughts  are  shown, 
And  Nature  is  their  object.” 

— Granville. 

THE  poetry  of  coloring  is  a  common  phrase 
but  the  coloring  of  poetry  apparently  has 
not  been  so  generally  appreciated.  Metaphor¬ 
ically,  the  poets  are  word  painters  and  literally, 
in  reference  to  their  use  of  color,  they  are  actual 
painters  of  figures,  natural  and  rhetorical. 
Plutarch  says,  “It  is  a  common  saying  that 
poetry  is  vocal  painting,  and  painting,  silent 
poetry.”  Poetry  abounds  in  the  use  of  color 
for  its  descriptive  power  and  emotional  effect 
and  among  the  poets  are  found  not  only  mas¬ 
terly  word  painters  but  skilled  colorists  in  the 
selection  and  arrangement  of  colors.  In  the 
works  of  Homer,  Milton,  Spenser,  Byron,  and 
others  many  examples  of  delightful  coloring  are 
found,  but  Shakespeare’s  ability  is  not  excelled 
in  conceiving  the  beauty  and  power  of  color  and 
in  accurate  knowledge  of  its  science  and  of  its 
harmony  he  stands  eminently  among  the  best 
writers.  In  the  use  of  color,  poets  appear  to 

55 


56  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


exhibit  individuality  just  as  the  great  masters 
of  painting,  but  there  exists  among  them  a 
generally  consistent  symbolism  of  color. 

It  is  delightful  and  profitable  to  study  the 
use  of  colors  by  the  poets  from  the  viewpoint  of 
scientific  knowledge  and  techinque.  Some  men¬ 
tion  of  these  aspects  will  be  made  occasionally 
in  passing  but  the  chief  interest  will  be  focussed 
upon  the  symbolical  use  of  color.  Doubtless 
the  literary  writers  of  the  past  are  largely  re¬ 
sponsible  for  the  rudiments  of  the  language  of 
color  which  are  available  to-day  and  it  is  en¬ 
couraging  to  note  a  consistency  among  them  in 
recognizing  the  attributes  possessed  by  various 
colors.  The  vagueness  of  the  nomenclature  of 
color  engenders  difficulty  in  describing  colors 
and  for  this  reason  the  uses  of  color  by  the 
poets  must  be  carefully  analyzed.  Further¬ 
more,  it  must  be  remembered  that  color  in 
poetry  is  merely  an  element  in  the  ensemble 
which  has  been  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
realizing  various  mental  pictures,  sentiments, 
and  moods.  Therefore,  a  color  in  one  ensemble 
may  possess  a  signification  quite  different  from 
that  amid  another  environment.  For  this  rea¬ 
son  concrete  examples  in  the  form  of  quota¬ 
tions  from  the  poets  are  presented  in  this  brief 
work. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  57 


Artists  and  others  interested  in  color  can 
profitably  borrow  from  the  poets  who  have 
taken  advantage  of  the  powers  of  colors  on 
the  imagination  in  much  of  the  imagery  and 
witchery  of  their  art.  A  great  deal  of  the 
charm  of  many  poems,  or  portions  of  them 
at  least,  is  due  to  the  bewitching  power  of 
colors.  However,  it  appears  unlikely  that 
spoken  or  written  coloring  has  possibilities  in 
appealing  to  the  imagination  and  emotion  as 
great  ultimately  as  painted  coloring,  assuming 
the  same  degree  of  development  in  the  imagina¬ 
tive  power  to  which  both  make  their  appeal. 
Spoken  coloring  is  limited  in  expressiveness  to 
the  significance  of  words  whereas  painters,  per¬ 
haps,  will  ever  be  able  to  apply  colors  beyond 
the  descriptive  power  of  language.  In  other 
words,  the  eye  is  the  primary  apparatus  espe¬ 
cially  designed  and  adapted  for  the  perception 
of  color.  It  is  the  normal  gateway  for  the 
stimulus  on  its  way  to  arouse  a  color  sensation 
and,  finally,  an  emotion.  Notwithstanding  the 
foregoing,  the  poet  has  employed  colors  delight¬ 
fully,  thoughtfully,  and  with  good  effect. 

Among  the  poets  are  good  and  bad  colorists. 
Some  apparently  are  concerned  only  with  eu¬ 
phony  while  others  interweave  science,  har¬ 
mony,  and  beauty  of  color  with  wonderful  ef- 


58  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


feet.  Some  one  has  declared  the  poet,  Ariosto, 
to  be  a  Titian  in  the  art  of  coloring  poetry, 
however,  from  both  viewpoints  of  quantity  and 
quality  of  coloring,  Shakespeare  must  be  ranked 
among  the  foremost.  Among  the  poets  of 
lesser  fame,  there  are  many  who  have  exhibited 
noteworthy  ability  in  the  use  of  color  but  they 
must  be  largely  overlooked  in  a  fleeting  discus¬ 
sion  of  this  character.  The  poet  has  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  poetic  license  which  frees  him  from 
the  necessity  of  using  color  as  it  is  found  in 
Nature  and  thus  is  enabled  to  extend  his  de¬ 
scriptive  powers.  He  is  licensed  to  describe 
the  sea  as  the  “black  ocean,”  the  “emerald 
main”  or  the  “azure  deep”  and  may  freely  ex¬ 
tend  this  license  to  all  natural  and  imaginary 
things. 

The  colors  used  by  the  poets  represent  the 
whole  range  of  the  spectrum  and  also  of  the 
purples.  These  colors  are  often  more  or  less 
disguised  by  merely  inferring  one  or  more  of 
them  and  thus  awakening  the  imagination;  by 
using  more  euphonious  terms  instead  of  the 
simple  color-names ;  and  by  substituting  natural 
objects  which  possess  characteristic  and  well- 
known  colors.  For  instance,  gold  often  takes 
the  place  of  yellow  or  orange  and  furnishes  a 
metallic  luster  or  glitter  in  addition  to  the  hue. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  59 


The  poet  runs  the  whole  gamut  of  primaries, 
secondaries,  and  tertiaries,  and  it  might  be  said 
that  he  avails  himself  of  all  the  gradations  of 
hue,  tint,  and  shade,  that  his  imaginary  palette 
contains.  His  supply  of  colors  is  only  limited 
by  his  ability  to  observe,  to  imagine,  and  to 
describe. 

Poets  appear  to  exhibit  distinct  preferences 
for  certain  colors ;  for  instance  it  is  not  surpris¬ 
ing  to  find  Milton’s  palette  often  set  with  black 
and  red.  Sometimes  the  primary  colors  are 
boldly  contrasted  and  harmonized  or  the  second¬ 
aries  may  be  employed.  They  exhibit  vari¬ 
ous  moods,  sometimes  preferring  the  quiet, 
restful  or  somber  palettes  consisting  of  shades 
but  as  often  having  gayer  moods  when  they  de¬ 
light  in  painting  boisterously  with  bright  colors 
or  delicately  with  light  and  airy  tints.  Their 
uses  of  color  are  not  always  simple,  clear  or 
bold.  Ofttimes  the  color  is  so  subdued  or  hid¬ 
den  that  only  the  subtle  influence  of  its  “atmos¬ 
phere”  is  felt.  However,  an  analysis  of  their 
individual  palettes  is  beyond  the  scope  and  aim 
of  this  brief  discussion.  As  already  stated,  the 
present  object  is  to  illustrate  as  broadly  and 
concisely  as  possible  the  symbolical  uses  of 
color  by  the  poets  by  means  of  excerpts  from 
their  works.  These  examples,  which  are  pre- 


60  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


sented  in  other  chapters,  have  not  been  selected 
primarily  for  their  beauty  of  coloring  but  for 
the  purpose  of  illustrating  various  different  ap¬ 
plications  or  associations  of  each  color  which 
appear  of  value. 

In  selecting  the  examples  of  symbolic  color  in 
poetry  it  is  difficult  to  escape  from  the  charm 
of  many  fine  sketches  of  coloring  encountered. 
Appreciation  of  color  makes  our  surroundings 
more  beautiful,  adds  beauty  and  interest  to  art, 
and  widens  the  appeal  of  poetry.  Hence,  it  ap¬ 
pears  worth  while  to  digress  for  a  moment  to 
view  other  aspects  of  color  in  poetry  aside  from 
the  primary  aim  of  this  book.  The  following 
beautiful  color  sketch  by  M.  A.  Brown  illus¬ 
trates  the  value  of  color  in  enhancing  the  witch¬ 
ery  of  poetry: 

“  ’Twas  in  a  glorious  eastern  isle, — 

Where  the  acacias  lightly  move 
Their  snowy  wreaths,  where  sunbeams  smile 
Brightly,  but  scorchingly,  like  love,— 

Round  which  the  ocean  lies  so  clear 
The  deep  red  coral  blushes  through 
The  waves  that  catch  its  crimson  hue, 

While  the  soft  roseate  tints  appear 
Mix’d  with  the  sky’s  reflected  blue ! 

Where,  brilliant  as  the  golden  rays 
That  shine  when  day  gives  place  to  night, 

The  shells,  that  are  as  rainbow  bright, 

Glow  through  the  waters  in  a  blaze 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  61 


Of  glorious  gold  and  purple  light ! 

Where  roses  blossom  through  the  year, 

And  palms  their  green-plumed  branches  rear.” 

Imagine  the  foregoing  passage  stripped  of  its 
coloring  yet  doubtless  many  are  practically 
color-blind  in  respect  to  poetry  as  they  are  to 
many  other  beautiful  uses  of  color  about  them. 
Some  of  the  poets  appear  to  have  had  a  con¬ 
siderable  knowledge  of  various  sciences  and  in 
the  science  of  color  some  have  exhibited  an  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  the  phenomena  of  simultaneous 
and  successive  contrast,  of  after-images  and 
with  the  laws  of  color-mixture  and  harmony. 
Shakespeare’s  knowledge  of  these  aspects  of 
color  is  illustrated  by  the  following  passages. 
He  often  takes  advantage  of  the  law  of  simul¬ 
taneous  contrast,  the  effect  of  one  color  upon 
another  adjacent  to  it.  This  is  simply  but 
effectively  demonstrated  by  means  of  two  exam¬ 
ples  of  white  contrasted  with  black. 

“Whiter  than  new  snow  on  a  raven’s  back.” 

“I  take  thy  hand ; — this  hand 
As  soft  as  dove’s  down,  and  as  white  as  it; 

Or  Ethiopian’s  tooth,  or  fann’d  snow  that’s  bolted 
By  the  northern  blast  twice  o’er.” 

His  acquaintance  with  the  visual  phenomenon 
of  the  after-image  is  illustrated  thus : 


62  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


‘‘My  mistaking  eyes, 

That  have  been  bedazzled  with  the  sun, 

That  everything  I  look  on  seemeth  green.” 

Other  examples  could  be  presented  to  illustrate 
that  poets  are  skilled  in  the  science  and  tech¬ 
nique  of  color,  however,  with  the  risk  of  digress¬ 
ing  far  from  the  symbolical  aspect. 

In  the  nineteenth  century  there  arose  in 
France  a  group  of  poets  who  aimed  to  express 
poetic  sentiments  by  the  use  of  forced  or 
strained  metaphors  and  by  means  of  the  sounds 
of  letters  and  words.  They  assumed  an  exist¬ 
ing  harmony  between  vowel  sounds  and  musical 
instruments  and  according  to  one  writer  “dwelt 
much  on  the  hidden  influence  which  should  ex¬ 
hale  through  the  inclosing  envelope  of  the 
spoken  word.”  They  believed  in  a  suggestive¬ 
ness  of  the  sounds  of  letters  and  words  quite  in¬ 
dependent  of  their  ordinary  signification  and  at¬ 
tempted  to  apply  these  ideas.  For  instance, 
according  to  some  the  sound  of  the  vowel  o  sug¬ 
gested  red  and  according  to  others  it  suggested 
blue.  This  difference  of  opinion  is  not  surpris¬ 
ing  when  the  complexity  of  the  psychological 
phenomena  and  the  scarcity  of  knowledge  re¬ 
garding  them  are  considered.  Prominent  in 
this  school  of  Symbolists,  as  they  were  called, 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  63 


were  Verlaine,  a  “lyric  poet  of  high  order,” 
de  Regnier,  and  Arethuse. 

The  symbolic  use  of  color  in  literature  is  not 
confined  to  poetry  although  the  poets  have  con¬ 
tributed  more  definitely  to  the  language  of 
color  than  other  writers.  Occasional  imagin¬ 
ings  of  writers  of  both  classic  and  popular  liter¬ 
ature  are  found  which  indicate  that  others  be¬ 
sides  those  intimately  associating  with  color  as 
a  science  or  as  an  art  have  been  impressed  with 
the  possibility  of  extending  the  employment  of 
color  for  emotional  effect.  It  is  true  that  some 
of  these  are  merely  the  wildest  flights  of  fancy 
with  no  firm  basis  of  fact  beneath  them  but 
there  are  other  examples  worthy  of  attention. 
Sometimes  these  imaginings  have  involved  the 
use  of  color  so  positively,  logically,  and  unas¬ 
sisted  as  to  appear  that  the  writer  was  foster¬ 
ing  the  belief  that  a  language  of  color  might 
actually  exist  outside  of  fiction.  Confusion  has 
arisen  in  the  minds  of  readers  when  an  author 
grasps  some  abnormal  psychological  condition 
such  as  chromsesthesia  and  weaves  a  story  ap¬ 
parently  based  on  fact.  However,  such  cases 
as  colored  audition  and  colored  gustation  are 
rare  and  abnormal,  although  it  might  be  con¬ 
tended  that  they  are  mutations  which  are  fore- 


64  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


runners  of  a  new  type.  However,  those  who 
seize  upon  such  abnormal  and  isolated  cases  to 
play  upon  the  imagination  are  not  usually  suf¬ 
ficiently  interested  in  the  facts  to  supply  an 
excuse  or  argument  such  as  the  foregoing. 

Further  discussion  of  this  rare  phenomenon 
would  not  be  justified  here  if  it  were  not  for  the 
harmful  influence  it  has  had  in  certain  discus¬ 
sions  of  what  has  been  termed  “color  music.” 
A  number  of  cases  of  chromaBsthesia  have  been 
studied  by  various  investigators  and  there  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  scanty  consistency  among  them. 
For  instance,  a  certain  taste  or  sound,  depend¬ 
ing  upon  whether  the  case  is  one  of  colored  gus¬ 
tation  or  of  colored  hearing,  does  not  have  as¬ 
sociated  with  it  similar  color  sensations  in  the 
different  cases  on  record.  One  subject  may  re¬ 
gard  his  chromaBsthesia  as  the  result  of  some 
sympathy  existing  in  him  between  auditory  and 
visual  experiences  whereas  another  may  recog¬ 
nize  the  “colors”  of  certain  tastes  by  their 
“feel.”  In  one  of  the  latter  cases,  substances 
as  different  as  cayenne  pepper  and  quinine  were 
indistinguishable  as  tastes  both  producing  the 
same  “feel”  and  inducing  the  same  color,  a 
dull  orange-red.  The  behavior  of  the  induced 
color  in  this  case  was  dependent  upon  the  tem- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  65 


perature  of  the  solutions.  It  apparently  has 
been  proved  in  some  cases  that  chromaesthesia 
was  sensational  rather  than  imaginal.  In  a 
case  of  colored  audition  the  colors  were  induced 
by  tones, — timbre,  intensity,  and  pitch  being 
conjointly  influential.  Tones  below  600  vibra¬ 
tions  per  second  induced  orange  and  brown 
colors;  those  above  12000,  a  colorless  gray;  and 
those  between  600  and  12000  vibrations  per  sec¬ 
ond  gave  blue  changing  to  green.  In  one  case 
the  subject  experienced  colors  for  spoken  or 
written  words  and  sounds,  the  endless  variety 
of  color  and  shading  being  the  special  feature 
of  the  case.  The  colors  were  always  seen 
“hovering  in  space.” 

In  a  table  representing  the  reports  of  twenty- 
three  cases  of  colored  hearing,  the  most  ap¬ 
parent  characteristic  was  the  wide  range  of  in¬ 
dividual  variation.  These  cases  are  briefly 
noted  merely  as  of  interest  in  passing  and  in 
order  that  no  misinterpretation  may  result  from 
their  mention  here  it  is  again  emphasized  that 
these  abnormal  cases  cannot  at  present  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  of  any  importance  whatsoever  in  the 
possible  future  art  purely  of  color.  Besides  a 
mere  passing  interest  they  have  been  briefly 
considered  for  a  negative  purpose;  that  is,  for 


66  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


the  purpose  of  warning  against  any  imaginative 
uses  of  this  and  similar  phenomena  which  may 
be  employed  by  writers. 

Prose  has  contributed  toward  the  standard¬ 
ization  and  extension  of  the  language  of  color  in 
quite  the  same  manner  as  poetry  but  perhaps 
not  as  effectively.  For  this  reason  the  exam¬ 
ples  of  symbolical  uses  of  color  which  are  pre¬ 
sented  from  poetical  writings  will  not  be  re¬ 
peated  by  means  of  prose  examples.  It  is 
doubtful  if  writers  of  prose  have  aided  in  other 
ways  unless  by  their  imaginings  they  have  stim¬ 
ulated  or  directed  thought  in  certain  directions. 
It  is  with  considerable  hesitancy  that  the  author 
continues  this  subject  further  at  present  be¬ 
cause  of  a  fear  that  the  discussion  may  be  more 
harmful  than  beneficial  to  the  cause.  How¬ 
ever,  it  appears  safe  to  mention  a  classic  in¬ 
stance  of  a  beautiful  employment  of  imagina¬ 
tion  in  “The  Blind  Musician”  by  Korolenko. 
In  this  sketch  which  the  author  calls  a  psycho¬ 
logical  study,  he  has  attempted  to  study  and 
analyze  the  inner  life  of  the  blind.  The  sub¬ 
jects  of  this  study  are  a  blind  girl,  whom  the 
author  had  known  as  a  child,  a  boy  pupil  of  his 
who  was  gradually  losing  his  sight,  and  a  pro¬ 
fessional  musician  blind  from  birth  but  schol¬ 
arly,  refined,  and  intellectually  gifted.  The  life 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  67 


of  the  blind  musician  is  followed  from  birth  to 
manhood  and  his  education  in  colors,  by  repre¬ 
senting  them  as  sounds,  is  interestingly  por¬ 
trayed.  Doubtless  it  is  largely  fiction ;  but 
classic  fiction  properly  digested  has  value  even 
in  the  discussion  of  a  subject  such  as  the  pres¬ 
ent  one  where  the  object  is  to  build  with  facts. 


PAINTING 


“Every  passion  and  affection  of  the  mind  has  its  appro¬ 
priate  tint;  and  colouring,  if  properly  adapted,  lends  its 
aid,  with  powerful  effect,  in  the  just  discrimination  and 
forcible  expression  of  them;  it  heightens  joy,  warms  love, 
inflames  anger,  deepens  sadness,  and  adds  coldness  to  the 
cheek  of  death  itself.” — Opie. 

IT  might  logically  be  expected  that  the  art  of 
painting  should  contribute  very  materially 
to  an  understanding  of  the  language  of  color, 
but  the  definite  data  available  from  this  source 
aid  us  but  little  more  than  by  verifying  that 
obtained  from  other  sources.  However,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  art  of  painting  will 
likely  contribute  much  of  value  in  the  direction 
of  interest  here.  This  art  is  apparently  in  the 
midst  of  one  of  its  periodic  upheavals  during 
which  it  seems  that  a  state  of  anarchy  exists. 
During  such  disturbances  in  art,  as  well  as  in 
other  fields,  many  experiments  are  conceived 
and  performed  and  those  interested  in  progress 
welcome  them  and  await  the  results  expectantly. 
Of  course,  experiments  are  always  in  progress 
in  art  as  in  other  activities  but  it  appears  that 
the  present  is  seething  with  new  and  anarchistic 

68 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  69 


ideas  in  the  art  of  painting  to  an  extent  only 
equaled  at  rare  periods  many  years  apart. 
Much  criticism  and  relatively  little  commenda¬ 
tion  is  heard  on  every  side  but  it  appears  that, 
if  sympathy  is  so  meager  that  encouragement 
cannot  be  extended,  at  least  an  open-minded  in¬ 
dulgence  should  prevail. 

A  comprehensive  study  of  the  signification  of 
color  in  painting  is  a  tremendous  undertaking 
if  it  is  to  be  exhaustive.  In  this  primer  of  the 
language  of  color,  wherein  the  object  has  been 
to  remain  close  to  proved  facts  and  accepted 
symbolisms  of  color,  it  would  be  beyond  the 
scope  and  aim  to  record  the  results  of  such  a 
study  even  though  it  were  made.  It  has  been 
considered  the  wiser  plan  to  carry  the  discus¬ 
sion  in  many  cases  only  so  far  as  definite  data, 
universal  in  application,  are  yielded  because  be¬ 
yond  this  the  interpretations  become  limited  in 
value.  Furthermore,  at  the  present  time  the 
author  acknowledges  inability  to  analyze  this 
subject  beyond  the  realm  of  accepted  facts. 
Doubtless  there  are  artists  who  apply  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  color  too  deeply  for  even  the  thought¬ 
ful  observer  to  analyze  but  it  has  been  difficult 
for  the  author  to  obtain  positive  data  from  the 
writings  of  the  great  artists. 

The  evolution  of  the  use  of  color  in  painting 


70  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


is  in  itself  a  delightfully  interesting  study.  Not 
long  ago  paintings  were  almost  universally 
realistic  or  photographic  in  character,  the  sub¬ 
ject,  usually  very  simple,  being  the  chief  means 
of  appeal  employed  by  the  artist.  Pure  and  un¬ 
diluted  pigments  were  applied  sparingly  if  at 
all.  They  were  usually  toned  down  apparently 
through  lack  of  confidence  or  through  fear  of 
consequences.  Backgrounds  were  begun  fal- 
teringly  in  dark  secondary  and  tertiary  colors 
and  the  finished  painting,  as  compared  with 
many  of  the  colorful  works  of  the  present 
period,  appeared  to  lack  stamina  and  power. 
It  is  true  that  certain  schools,  generations  ago, 
employed  much  beautiful  coloring,  yet  the  real¬ 
istic  subject  was  depended  upon  to  make  their 
work  interpretable  and  acceptable  and  to  over¬ 
ride  criticism.  Slowly  the  artist  gained  confi¬ 
dence  in  the  employment  of  purer  colors  and  ap¬ 
parently  through  this  growing  use  he  has  gradu¬ 
ally  gained  in  his  comprehension  of  the  powers 
of  colors. 

In  the  past,  the  art  of  painting  has  contrib¬ 
uted  to  the  language  of  color  by  using  colors 
symbolically  in  accordance  with  the  established 
usage  in  mythology  and  ecclesiasticism.  In 
this  manner  the  signification  of  colors  has  been 
strengthened  by  association  and  common  con- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  71 

sent  quite  independent  of  the  necessity  of  justi¬ 
fying  these  usages  from  any  deeper  or  more 
fundamental  influence;  that  is,  it  matters  not 
if  the  established  symbolism  is  supported  by 
real  corresponding  effects  of  the  colors  upon 
the  mind.  The  deeper  and  more  fundamental 
source  of  data  for  the  language  of  color  lies  in 
the  unexplored  unknown  which  the  psychologist 
is  best  equipped  to  invade  but,  as  stated  be¬ 
fore,  we  can  not  reject  the  language  which  is 
already  established  by  common  consent  through¬ 
out  the  past  ages.  Hence  in  chapters  which 
follow  the  pure  symbolic  uses  of  color  in  paint¬ 
ing  will  be  utilized  in  building  our  rudimentary 
dictionary. 

The  artist  has  employed  colors  according  to  a 
more  or  less  vague  understanding  of  their 
psychological  influence.  The  drapery  of  color 
has  cast  over  paintings  certain  moods,  often  ob¬ 
viously  consistent  with  our  scanty  knowledge 
of  such  powers  of  colors.  Many  artists  have 
realized  that  color  can  excite  the  imagination 
and  extend  ideas  and  those  who  have  compre¬ 
hended  this  have  been  able  to  awaken  in  the 
thoughtful  observer  a  responsive  chord,  as  yet, 
perhaps,  generally  defying  complete  analysis. 

To  revert  to  the  discussion  of  the  possible  con¬ 
tributions  of  color  in  painting  it  appears  that, 


72  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


with  the  development  of  the  art  of  photography, 
the  artist  foresaw  defeat  in  the  production  of 
realistic  records  and  therefore  turned  with  more 
earnestness  to  the  problem  of  revealing  the  hid¬ 
den  powers  of  colors.  Photography  can  pro¬ 
duce  in  black  and  white  a  satisfactory  imita¬ 
tion  of  the  appearance  of  natural  objects  and 
even  with  a  fair  degree  of  success  can  repro¬ 
duce  the  colors.  In  the  presence  of  knowledge 
these  records  satisfy  the  requirements  of  “  sub¬ 
ject  ”  appeal.  But  the  artist  was  undismayed, 
who  realized  that  colors  guided  by  skill,  per¬ 
ception,  and  imagination  still  contained  the  in¬ 
herent  power  of  producing  a  fairer  or  deeper 
creation  than  Nature  herself.  This  stimu¬ 
lated  the  realization  that  the  object  of  painting 
was  not  mere  copying,  in  that  painting  not  only 
embodies  a  reproduction  of  Nature  but  an  ex¬ 
pression  of  the  thoughts,  impressions,  and  emo¬ 
tions  of  the  artist.  Such  a  combination  as  col¬ 
ors,  technique,  knowledge,  perceptive  power, 
and  imagination  need  not  fear  photography. 

Realism  began  to  give  way  to  expressions  of 
light — the  broad  term  which  includes  all  colors. 
For  instance,  Turner’s  later  works,  radical 
and  “futuristic”  during  his  time  but  accepted 
to-day  as  wonderful  expressions  of  color,  are 
examples  of  the  result  of  breaking  away  from 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  73 


the  traditional  painstaking  reproduction  of  a 
realistic  subject.  The  story  of  the  evolution  of 
the  employment  of  color  expression  in  painting 
is  replete  with  such  awakenings  on  the  part  of 
artists  and  also  ultimate,  though  lagging, 
changes  of  attitude  on  the  part  of  critics.  Not¬ 
withstanding  these  examples  in  the  past  history 
of  art,  the  antagonism  toward  modern  isms  in 
art  to-day  is  as  intense  as  it  has  been  toward 
correspondingly  radical  departures  during  the 
past.  The  same  condition  is  exemplified 
throughout  the  entire  past  by  the  persecutions 
of  pathfinders  in  science,  invention,  politics, 
sociology,  and  other  fields  of  endeavor  but  these 
wrongs  are  blithely  ignored  or  forgotten  when 
the  martyrs  are  gone<  and  their  dreams  have 
come  true.  It  is  certain  that  impostors  are 
numerous,  but  mankind  should  have  learned 
long  ago  that  the  grain  cannot  be  harvested  and 
separated  from  the  chaff  unless  seeds  are  first 
planted,  encouraged,  and  nourished  to  maturity. 
Furthermore,  many  successes  have  been  built 
upon  radical  departures  in  the  use  of  color  in 
painting. 

The  unprejudiced  must  find  it  difficult  to  avoid 
the  admission  that  the  modern  isms  in  painting 
have  already  borne  fruit  if  they  have  accom¬ 
plished  no  more  than  to  stimulate  experimenta- 


74  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


tion  and  thought  and  to  stiffen  the  backbone  of 
the  artist  which  has  resulted  in  a  bolder  use  of 
color.  These  new  movements  may  give  rise  to 
an  ultimate  use  of  color  largely  for  “color’s 
sake”  and,  by  suppressing  the  prominence  of 
realism  or  subject,  may  possibly  contribute  more 
definitely  to  the  understanding  of  the  language 
of  color  than  all  the  painting  of  the  past.  In 
the  furore  of  criticism  and  defense,  of  which  the 
modernists  in  painting  have  been  the  center 
during  the  past  few  years,  many  viewpoints 
have  been  aired.  The  aim  of  these  “anarch¬ 
ists”  has  been  variously  stated  many  times, 
however,  another  view,  which  possibly  may  not 
be  original,  appears  to  be  sane  at  least.  In 
judging  the  work  of  the  extremists  to-day  the 
traditions  of  the  past  must  be  kept  in  the  back¬ 
ground.  It  is  ill-spent  and  unfair  criticism  that 
results  from  a  judgment  of  a  new  movement 
entirely  in  terms  of  the  standards  of  the  past. 
The  standards  of  realism  are  nearly  as  useless 
in  measuring  the  value  of  futuristic  art  as  a 
tonoscope  would  be  in  determining  the  odor  or 
color  of  a  rose.  Judged  by  the  old  standards  a 
sky  could  not  be  painted  scarlet  or  yellow-green 
for  the  artist  must  not  be  a  nature-faker  only  to 
a  reasonable  degree.  However,  is  it  not  possible 
that  the  modernists  are  demanding  an  extension 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  75 


of  “coloristic  license”?  And  are  they  not  en¬ 
titled  to  an  extension  of  this  license  to  a  de¬ 
gree  comparable  with  the  extent  of  poetic 
license  enjoyed  by  the  poet?  The  author  does 
not  attempt  to  answer  but  is  resigned  to  await 
the  results  of  the  experiments  now  in  progress. 

To  recapitulate,  let  us  ask,  What  is  art?  The 
answers  that  have  been  given  to  this  question 
are  extremely  variable  in  construction  or  in 
superficial  meaning,  but  many  of  the  ideas  pre¬ 
sented  are  quite  similar.  The  general  senti¬ 
ment  is  that  art  is  the  perfection  of  Nature  or 
indeed,  as  Emerson  has  said,  the  aim  of  art  is  to 
produce  a  fairer  creation  than  exists  in  Nature. 
It  appears  that  possibly  both  are  correct  and 
surely  they  are  ultimately  identical.  In  paint¬ 
ing  it  must  be  understood  that  not  only  the 
physical  is  depicted  but  all  appealing  art  of  this 
character  includes  painting  of  the  mental. 
Various  schools  appear  to  attempt  to  paint  dif¬ 
ferent  proportions  of  these  two  elements.  In 
order  to  improve  upon  Nature  the  artist  must 
depend  upon  improving  the  mental  aspect  be¬ 
cause  he  cannot  in  general  reproduce  from  pig¬ 
ments  alone  the  physical  in  a  scene.  As  Mason 
has  beautifully  expressed  it : 


“Vain  is  the  hope  by  colouring  to  display 
The  bright  effulgence  of  the  noontide  ray 


76  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


Or  paint  the  full-orb’d  ruler  of  the  skies 
With  pencils  dipt  in  full  terrestrial  dyes.” 

Logically  it  might  be  asked,  how  can  the 
artist  perfect  or  improve  upon  Nature  if  he  is 
limited  at  the  outset  by  the  incapacities  of  pig¬ 
ments  in  rendering  the  physical?  It  is  possi¬ 
ble  that  he  may  accomplish  this  perfection  b)7- 
bringing  together  in  one  grand  ensemble  all 
the  elements,  physical  and  mental,  which  coop¬ 
erate  to  the  same  end  without  waste  or  discord. 
Nature  is  wonderful  to  look  upon,  is  always  in¬ 
teresting,  but  only  occasionally  presents  the 
ideal.  Ruskin  has  expressed  a  similar  senti¬ 
ment  thus: 

“Painting  with  all  its  technicalities,  difficulties,  and 
peculiar  ends,  is  nothing  but  a  noble  and  expressive  lan¬ 
guage,  invaluable  as  the  vehicle  of  thought  but  by  itself 
nothing.” 

Plotinus  and  many  others  who  have  philos¬ 
ophized  on  art  and  the  beautiful  contend  that 
beauty  does  not  exist  in  the  material  substance 
but  in  the  ideas  which  natural  forms  very  in¬ 
adequately  reflect.  It  is  not  seen  with  “the 
outward,  but  with  the  inward  eye.”  The  Ger¬ 
man  artist,  Mengs,  defined  beauty  as  “visible 
perfection,  an  imperfect  image  of  the  supreme 
perfection.”  According  to  Goethe,  “Beauty  is 
neither  light  nor  darkness,  it  is  twilight,  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  77 


medium  between  truth  and  untruth.”  Hogarth 
contends  that  the  charm  of  painting  which  is 
due  to  colors  depends  upon  their  infinite  variety 
and  states  that  coloring  in  the  art  of  painting 
has  been  “a  mystery  of  all  ages.”  Plato  found 
the  beauty  of  color  to  lie  in  its  intrinsic  signifi¬ 
cance  and  symbolism  but  also  attributed  to  color 
a  pure  sensuous  agreeableness. 

The  definitions  of  art  and  beauty  and  the 
roles  apportioned  to  color  are  almost  number¬ 
less  and  also  quite  diverse,  however,  there  is  a 
general  agreement  that  beauty  depends  upon 
harmony — a  harmony  of  both  the  physical  and 
mental  aspects.  Many  of  those  who  contend 
that  beauty  is  the  result  of  harmony  also  ac¬ 
cord  with  the  sentiment  that  it  emanates  from 
the  soul.  Certainly  that  which  we  derive  from 
viewing  a  masterpiece  of  art  is  in  direct  pro¬ 
portion  to  that  which  we  put  into  it.  The  an¬ 
swer  to  the  question  concerning  the  part  which 
color  plays  in  the  harmony  which  is  essential  to 
beauty  will  only  be  completely  answered  when 
the  language  of  color  is  written.  No  color  is 
beautiful  everywhere,  but  each  color  is  beauti¬ 
ful  in  its  way  and  in  certain  environments  and 
relations.  This  brief  discussion  of  art  and 
beauty  is  presented  with  the  hope  it  will  aid  the 
reader  who  gives  further  thought  to  the  expres- 


78  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


siveness  of  color  in  painting.  This  subject  is 
touched  upon  here  and  there  throughout  this 
book. 

Although  painting  has  contributed  in  many 
ways  to  the  language  of  color  its  most  positive 
or  most  apparent  contribution  has  been  through 
the  symbolical  use  of  color.  St.  Augustine  has 
said  of  the  representations  of  art  that  they  are 
“libri  idiotarium”  (the  books  of  the  simple) 
and  certainly  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  early  art 
was  to  teach.  Hence  there  arose  a  definite  sym¬ 
bolism  which  is  quite  uniform  in  respect  to  line 
and  form  but  less  easily  analyzed  in  respect  to 
the  use  of  color.  As  art  advanced,  symbolism 
has  been  influenced  by  tradition,  convention, 
esthetic  taste,  and  intellect,  however,  from  its 
early  infancy  various  forms  and  symbols  have 
been  a  part  of  its  language.  These  are  mean¬ 
ingless  without  understanding  but  when  noted 
and  analyzed  they  form  an  interesting  part  of 
the  expression  of  the  representative  arts. 
Colors  are  used  symbolically  to  express  a  simple 
fact  or  sentiment,  to  emphasize  a  mood,  and  di¬ 
rectly  or  indirectly  they  are  effective  through 
various  associations.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  the 
field  of  painting  is  a  fertile  one  but  it  will  not 
yield  the  facts  of  the  language  of  color  without 
careful  and  thoughtful  cultivation. 


ECCLESIASTICISM 


RELIGION,  ecclesiasticism,  and  liturgy  have 
contributed  something  to  the  signification 
of  colors  and  have  strengthened  their  symbolical 
usage.  Especially  in  the  early  ages,  emblems 
formed  an  important  part  of  religious  cere¬ 
monies  and  in  some  churches  these  have  sur¬ 
vived  to  the  present  time.  Many  sources  were 
drawn  upon  for  emblems  in  the  church  and  the 
conspicuousness  of  colors  did  not  escape  the 
early  ecclesiasts.  It  appears  that  the  same 
general  significations  were  attributed  to  colors 
among  many  of  the  nations  of  remote  antiquity. 
Colors  provided  an  easy  means  for  transmitting 
thought  and  for  aiding  the  memory.  To  some 
extent,  certain  colors  were  arbitrarily  associ¬ 
ated  with  religious  events  and  ideas. 

The  colors  used  in  religious  ceremonies  were 
adapted  from  early  writings  and  some  usages 
originated  in  the  mandates  of  powerful  ecclesi¬ 
asts.  The  significations  of  colors  are  found  to 
be  in  accordance  with  usages  established  in  other 
activities  as  well  as  with  the  arbitrary  mandates 
and  the  resulting  customs.  Many  adopted 
meanings  were  merely  fitted  into  the  real  and 

79 


80  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


mythological  episodes  which  formed  the  basis 
of  religion  and  therefore  many  significations  of 
colors  arose  and  became  established  within  the 
church.  Paintings  executed  expressly  for 
church  decoration  and  for  illustrating  the  teach¬ 
ings  were  doubtless  guided  in  coloring,  as  in 
other  details,  by  the  ecclesiasts  and  hence  the 
uses  of  colors  in  such  representations  as  well  as 
in  the  religious  ceremonies  cannot  be  disre¬ 
garded  in  the  present  review. 

According  to  Fairholt,  the  history  of  symbolic 
colors  in  Christianity  indicates  a  triple  origin 
marked  by  the  three  epochs  in  the  history  of  re¬ 
ligion,  namely,  the  divine,  the  consecrated,  and 
the  profane.  The  first  regulated  the  costume 
of  Aaron  and  of  the  Levites,  the  ritual  of  wor¬ 
ship,  and  similar  matters.  Sculpture  and  paint¬ 
ing  were  introduced  for  illustrating  the  teach¬ 
ings  and  for  decorating  the  temples  and  thus 
the  consecrated  language  arose.  The  theocratic 
era  extended  until  the  Renaissance  at  which 
time  the  symbolic  expression  largely  disap¬ 
peared,  that  is,  the  “divine”  language  of  color 
was  smothered  in  the  evolution  of  painting  from 
a  science  into  an  art.  This  marked  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  “profane”  era  in  which  the  sym¬ 
bolism  of  colors  was  largely  banished  from  the 
church  and  the  “divine”  and  the  “consecrated” 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


81 


language  of  colors  gave  way  to  the  “profane” 
language. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  sym¬ 
bolic  use  of  colors  in  the  church  became  disor¬ 
ganized.  Other  colors  and  various  combina¬ 
tions  were  introduced  and  these  innovations 
crept  into  the  Sarum  ritual.  The  five  “mystic” 
colors,  which  were  supposed  to  have  been  given 
by  God  to  Moses,  were  in  general  use  in  England 
until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
lack  of  uniformity  in  the  symbolic  use  of  colors 
at  the  present  time  is  doubtless  due  to  the  fact 
that  modern  churchmen  exercise  their  fancy  and 
taste  which  in  olden  times  were  made  subservi¬ 
ent  to  the  “divine  command.” 

Inasmuch  as  the  Sarum  use  is  conspicuous  in 
the  symbolism  of  colors  in  the  church,  it  may  be 
of  interest  to  note  the  origin  of  the  term. 
Sarum  was  a  small  borough  in  England  which 
dated  from  the  time  of  the  Romans  although  it 
is  now  extinct  except  for  a  few  ruins  which 
mark  its  site.  At  the  time  of  William  the  Con¬ 
queror,  the  Church  of  England  was  split  into 
two  parties,  the  conquerors  and  the  conquered, 
according  to  Rolfe.  In  order  to  preserve  a  uni¬ 
formity  of  divine  service  between  these  rivals 
the  bishop,  whose  seat  was  at  Sarum,  revived 
and  standardized  the  signification  of  the  five 


82  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


“mystic  colors,’ ’  red,  gold,  blue,  purple,  and 
white,  hence  the  origin  of  the  Sarum  liturgy. 
An  interesting  reference  to  these  colors  is  found 
in  the  Bible  in  the  first  part  of  the  twenty-eighth 
chapter  of  Exodus.  A  discussion  of  the  signifi¬ 
cation  of  these  colors  would  occupy  too  much 
space  to  be  presented  here  because  their  uses 
are  complex.  An  excellent  discussion  is  pre¬ 
sented  by  E.  C.  Neff  in  a  book  on  Christian  sym¬ 
bolism.  As  already  stated,  the  colors  of  vest¬ 
ments  and  of  the  draperies  of  the  altar,  sanctu¬ 
ary  and  pulpit  were  often  significant.  In  the 
Greek  church  only  two  colors  were  used,  red 
being  favored  for  Lent;  and  in  the  Armenian 
church  no  colors  are  apparently  given  special 
significance.  The  five  colors,  white,  red,  green, 
violet,  and  black,  constitute  the  “Roman  se¬ 
quence’’  in  the  Roman  church.  The  Anglican 
church  has  perpetuated  the  divine  command  to 
Moses  in  the  Sarum  liturgy  although  this  use  is 
not  universal  among  its  adherents. 

No  attempt  will  be  made  to  give  an  exhaustive 
discussion  of  the  ecclesiastical  uses  of  color  but 
a  few  examples  will  be  of  interest.  Fairholt 
gives  the  following  symbolic  significances  of 
various  colors  in  ecclesiasticism: 

Red :  charity,  martyrdom  for  faith. 

Gold :  glory,  power. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OP  COLOR  83 


Saffron:  the  confessors. 

Green:  faith,  immortality,  contemplation. 

Pale  green :  baptism. 

Blue:  hope,  love  of  divine  works,  sincerity, 
piety. 

Pale  blue :  peace,  serene  conscience,  Christian 
prudence,  love  of  good  works. 

Violet :  penitence  in  connection  with  figures  of 
saints. 

Purple :  dignity  of  justice,  royalty. 

Rose :  martyrdom. 

White :  chastity,  innocence,  purity. 

Gray :  tribulation. 

In  the  Roman  church  it  is  found  that  white,  as 
the  symbol  of  purity,  has  been  used  on  the  festi¬ 
vals  of  angels,  Virgin  Mary,  Christ,  and  also 
of  saints,  and  at  matrimonial  ceremonies.  Red, 
as  the  color  of  blood,  has  prevailed  on  the  festi¬ 
vals  of  martyred  saints,  and  of  the  Holy  Cross. 
Violet  or  purple  has  been  the  color  of  penitence 
in  Advent,  Lent,  etc.  Green,  the  color  of  hope¬ 
ful  springtime,  has  been  used  during  such  in¬ 
tervals  as  from  Trinity  to  Advent  Sunday. 
Black  is  consistently  used  on  Good  Friday,  at 
funerals  and  during  memorial  services.  These 
uses  have  persisted,  more  or  less,  for  centuries. 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  white  was  the  general 
Lenten  color,  not  from  any  direct  significance  of 


84  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


its  universally  recognized  attribute  of  purity, 
but  from  that  of  screening  all  colors  from  view 
by  the  use  of  white  coverings  and  draperies. 
Blue  has  been  used  in  the  past  by  priests  at  the 
grave,  in  which  case  it  is  emblematic  of  heaven. 
White  is  used  very  generally  at  Feasts  and  at 
seasons  pertaining  to  the  Lord  that  are  not  as¬ 
sociated  with  suffering.  White  is  used  for 
mourning  and  red  for  the  marriage  service  by 
the  Chinese. 

In  China  and  in  some  other  parts  of  the 
Orient,  yellow  has  been  a  sacred  color.  It  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  believed  by  some  that,  with  the  ad¬ 
vent  of  Christianity,  yellow  and,  to  some  extent, 
red  and  orange  were  looked  upon  with  disfavor 
and  the  use  of  the  colder  colors  nearer  the  blue 
end  of  the  spectrum  was  encouraged.  Doubt¬ 
less  it  was  thought  that  these  latter  colors  were 
symbolic  of  dignity,  purity,  and  submissiveness. 
Yellow  became  the  mark  of  jealousy  and  shame 
and  other  warm  colors,  notably  red,  shared  oc¬ 
casionally  in  this  unenviable  distinction.  These 
prejudices  became  so  firmly  implanted  that  even 
at  the  present  time  their  effects  are  often  dis¬ 
tinguishable.  Such  influences  are  not  insignifi¬ 
cant  in  their  effect  upon  our  present  attitude 
toward  colors. 

Gold  and  silver,  which  besides  their  color  pos- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


85 


sess  brilliancy  and  luster,  play  important  parts 
in  ecclesiasticism.  The  cross,  glory,  aureole, 
and  nimbus  are  often  covered  with  gold  or  silver 
which  can  readily  be  interpreted  as  representing 
brilliancy,  light  and  sanctity.  Sometimes  these 
symbols  have  appeared  in  various  colors  and  it 
is  believed  by  some  that  these  colors  had  certain 
meanings. 

The  rose  and  the  lily  are  conspicuous  in  re¬ 
ligion,  both  having  been  dedicated  to  the  Virgin 
Mary.  In  this  office  the  former  is  emblematic 
of  love,  and  the  latter  of  purity. 

In  a  few  instances,  early  in  history,  green  has 
been  held  a  sacred  color.  The  use  of  blue  occurs 
often  in  the  traditions  and  paintings  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  In  these  cases  it  is  usually  emblematic 
of  fidelity  and  of  divine  intelligence.  White  is 
very  generally  used  as  an  emblem  of  chastity 
and  of  allied  virtues.  Black  naturally  assumes 
characteristics  opposite  to  white  and  therefore 
symbolizes  woe,  horror  and  wickedness.  Gray 
fills  an  office  between  black  and  white,  and  is 
therefore  associated  with  penance,  sadness,  and 
humility.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  em¬ 
blematic  uses  of  combinations  of  these  colors 
many  of  which  are  extremely  logical. 

The  Trinity  has  been  represented  by  red,  sig¬ 
nifying  divine  love;  blue,  emblematic  of  truth 


86  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


and  constancy;  and  gold  or  yellow  denoting  di¬ 
vine  glory.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  yel¬ 
low,  when  representing  gold,  possesses  desirable 
attributes  being  variously  used  to  signify  love, 
constancy,  wisdom,  dignity,  light,  and  glory, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  great  char¬ 
acters  in  religions.  Otherwise  yellow  is  at¬ 
tributed  with  uncomplimentary  characteristics. 
For  example,  in  France  in  the  tenth  century  the 
doors  of  the  abodes  of  felons,  traitors  and  other 
criminals  were  painted  yellow  and  Judas  was 
often  represented  with  a  yellow  robe  in  old 
glass  paintings  signifying  inconstancy,  jealousy, 
and  deceit. 

Black,  which  suggests  darkness  and  gloom  re¬ 
sulting  from  the  absence  of  light,  is  a  symbol  of 
spiritual  darkness.  It  has  been  associated  with 
witchcraft  or  diabolical  power  from  which  sig¬ 
nificance  has  arisen  the  name  for  the  mysterious 
“black  art.”  Most  of  the  illusions  to  black  are 
uncomplimentary  or  disgusting. 

In  certain  churches  it  is  said  that  the  old  Eng¬ 
lish  or  Sarum  colors  are  being  revived.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  one  writer,  these  colors  are  used  as 
follows  in  the  draperies  and  vestments :  red  as 
the  ordinary  Sunday  color,  as  a  penitential  color 
on  Ash  Wednesday,  Good  Friday,  Easter  Even, 
and  Whitsun  Even,  and  also  on  the  same  days  as 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  87 


used  in  the  Roman  church;  white  throughout 
Eastertide;  yellow  for  confessional  feasts;  and 
brown  or  gray  with  violet,  for  penitential  sea¬ 
sons.  As  already  stated  the  uses  of  these  colors 
are  too  extensive  and  complex  to  be  more  than 
touched  upon  here. 

In  various  monastic  orders  colors  are  signifi¬ 
cant,  though  naturally  the  somber  colors  such  as 
black,  brown,  gray,  and  combinations  of  black 
and  white  predominate.  The  lily  is  dedicated  to 
the  Virgin  Mary  with  consistency  and  fine  senti¬ 
ment.  It  also  officially  belongs  to  a  number  of 
saints.  Angels,  which  in  early  art  were  always 
draped,  have  been  clothed,  almost  universally,  in 
white,  filmy  fabric  in  mythological  representa¬ 
tions.  Violet  or  amethyst,  signifying  passion 
and  suffering,  usually  in  relation  to  love  and 
truth,  is  worn  by  Magdalene  and  by  the  Ma¬ 
donna  after  the  crucifixion.  Sometimes  Christ 
has  been  represented  in  a  violet  mantle  after  the 
resurrection.  As  already  shown,  yellow  or 
gold,  emblematic  of  the  sun,  of  glory,  of  fruit¬ 
fulness,  etc.,  plays  a  prominent  part  in  the  sym¬ 
bolism  of  religion  and  its  ceremonies.  Yellow 
in  a  dingy  hue  often  signifies  inconstancy  and 
deceit.  These  examples  are  sufficient  to  indi¬ 
cate  that  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  significance 
of  colors  in  ecclesiasticism,  in  representations 


88  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


of  events  which  form  the  foundation  of  religion, 
and  in  its  attendant  ceremonies,  should  yield 
much  interesting  data.  Only  a  glimpse  has 
been  given  into  the  subject  but  further  details 
can  be  obtained  from  treatises  on  symbolism  in 
religion. 


THEATRE 


IN  the  drama,  colors  have  been  endowed  some¬ 
times  with  emblematic  characteristic  or  have 
been  assumed  to  possess  attributes  which  sug¬ 
gest  certain  events  and  sentiments  or  which  are 
of  definite  emotional  value.  The  theatre  has  al¬ 
ways  provided  a  place  for  addressing  the  masses 
through  the  language  of  color  but  development 
in  this  direction  has  been  barely  perceptible. 
The  reason  is  two-fold,  first,  only  the  faintest 
rudimentary  language  exists,  and  second,  the 
colorist  with  a  broad  knowledge  of  the  various 
aspects  of  color  is  not  only  a  rarity  but  he  has 
not  yet  found  his  way  into  the  theatre.  It  may 
be  that  the  experimenters  in  the  modern  theatre 
are  rising  to  this  opportunity.  At  any  rate 
there  is  evidence  of  attempts  being  made  to  tap 
this  source  of  possibilities. 

The  rhapsodists  of  Greece,  when  reciting  in  a 
theatrical  manner,  employed  colors  appropriate 
to  their  subject.  The  propriety  may  be  ques¬ 
tioned,  nevertheless  no  harm  can  result  from 
clothing  the  actors  or  their  setting  with  colors 
which  appear  to  be  appropriate  because  careful 
consideration  and  application  of  color  even  in 
the  meager  light  of  present  knowledge  will  bring 

89 


90  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


results  fully  as  commendable  as  those  result¬ 
ing  from  accident.  It  is  said  that  these  Greeks, 
when  presenting  Homer’s  Odyssey,  were  clothed 
in  purple  garments  to  “signify  the  sea- wander¬ 
ings  of  Ulysses  ’  ’ ;  and  when  acting  the  Iliad  they 
were  clothed  in  scarlet  which  was  emblematic 
of  the  bloody  battles  characterizing  that  poem. 
Who  can  imagine  Mephistopheles  garbed  in 
other  colors  than  red  and  black? 

Color  has  been  used  upon  the  stage  to  ac¬ 
centuate  the  mood,  but  relatively  few  instances 
have  indicated  more  than  a  crude  or  indefinite 
attempt  to  use  the  language  of  color  in  correla¬ 
tion  with  the  sentiment  or  action.  Ofttimes 
omissions  of  other  refinements  closely  allied  to 
color  in  aiding  in  its  expressiveness  or  in  effect¬ 
ing  the  desired  illusion  as  a  whole  have  empha¬ 
sized  the  crudity  of  the  art.  In  the  simple  case 
of  using  colored  light  to  produce  the  illusion  of 
moonlight  the  almost  universal  lack  of  directed- 
ness  of  the  light,  and  the  consequent  absence  of 
definite  and  single  shadows,  have  defeated  the 
full  realization  of  the  results  obtainable  from 
the  latent  emotive  power  of  color.  Color  has 
been  correlated  with  the  dance  but  apparently 
with  no  more  depth  of  purpose  than  to  appeal 
to  the  eye  rather  than  to  the  intellect. 

In  the  wonderful  Russian  ballet  where  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  91 


beautiful  accordance  of  setting,  action,  and 
music  reached  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  it 
naturally  might  have  been  expected  that  the  cre¬ 
ative  geniuses  responsible  for  the  production 
would  have  used  color  to  the  full  extent  of  its 
power.  Although  the  employment  of  line  and 
color  was  conspicuously  “modern,”  the  use  of 
color  for  its  power  alone  was  insignificant  and  it 
appeared  that  the  creators  either  did  not  believe 
in  the  existence  of  such  power  or  felt  incompe¬ 
tent  to  employ  it.  It  is  possible  they  wisely  re¬ 
frained  from  going  farther,  governed  by  the 
principle  that  experiments  are  for  private  view. 
At  any  rate  it  is  somewhat  disappointing  that 
those  combined  abilities  responsible  for  the  won¬ 
derful  correlations  of  various  arts — setting,  ac¬ 
tion,  story,  and  music — did  not  mix  more  of  the 
language  of  color  into  the  ensemble.  It  may 
appear  that  this  statement  is  born  of  ungrateful¬ 
ness  and,  lest  it  be  so  construed,  it  should  be 
added  that  it  is  doubtful  if  one  was  not  already 
filled  to  capacity  with  the  effects  of  the  wonder¬ 
ful  blend  of  setting,  dance,  and  music.  This 
raises  the  question  whether  additional  use  of  the 
power  of  colors  in  such  cases  would  not  overtax 
the  ability  of  the  human  organism  to  respond 
and  therefore  give  rise  to  a  detrimental  reaction. 
This  may  be  true  when  the  visual  sense  is  not 


92  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


involved  as  in  listening  to  music  but  when  it 
is  already  in  action  it  appears  probable  that  the 
employment  of  colors  properly  correlated  with 
the  primary  stimuli  should  result  in  heighten¬ 
ing  the  emotional  effect. 

In  the  Russian  dances  many  phases  of  our 
strongest  emotions  were  portrayed.  Love  in 
many  aspects,  egotistical,  selfish,  weeping,  pas¬ 
sionate,  spiritual,  and  joyful,  was  represented. 
Also  distrust,  revenge,  shame,  terror,  folly, 
hope,  victory,  and  happiness  were  portrayed. 
Such  a  gamut  of  emotions  provides  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  utilize  the  powers  of  lighting  and 
of  color.  This  field  represents  one  of  great 
future  possibility  in  employing  the  language  of 
color  in  appealing  to  the  intellect  and  in  touch¬ 
ing  the  emotional  strings.  The  applications 
will  be  obvious  to  those  who  possess  themselves 
of  even  the  meager  data  available  regarding 
the  expressiveness  of  colors  of  which  it  is  the 
aim  of  this  book  to  present  a  glimpse.  The 
subject  of  this  chapter  could  be  discussed  to 
better  advantage  at  the  close  of  this  book,  but 
it  has  been  incorporated  here  as  a  more  gen¬ 
erally  befitting  place  in  this  review.  After  pe¬ 
rusing  the  later  chapters  the  possibilities  of 
more  definite  uses  of  colors  on  the  stage  should 
be  apparent. 


PART  II 


SYMBOLISM  OF  COLOR 


IT  is  the  aim  in  this  section  to  record  a  suffi¬ 
cient  number  of  symbolic  uses  of  various 
colors  in  order  that  the  reader  may  obtain  a 
general  idea  of  the  impressions  which  various 
colors  have  made  upon  the  intellects  of  the 
past.  An  attempt  is  made  to  interpret  the 
reasons  for  the  adoption  of  the  various  signifi¬ 
cations,  although  these  are  recorded  as  concisely 
as  possible.  Reference  should  be  made  to  pre¬ 
ceding  chapters  in  order  to  obtain  a  proper 
perspective  because  they  contain  brief  discus¬ 
sions  of  various  sources  of  our  present  rudi¬ 
mentary  language  of  color  and  of  the  devious 
processes  through  which  symbolic  uses  of  colors 
have  passed.  The  material  presented  in  the 
following  chapters  of  this  section  indicates  the 
general  character  of  our  present  knowledge 
of  the  expressiveness  of  color.  The  data  are 
recorded  as  concisely  as  possible  and  care  has 
been  taken  to  eliminate  repetition  by  choosing 
only  a  few  examples  of  each  use  of  color  which 
appears  to  have  a  consistent  and  fairly  well 
established  symbolical  meaning. 

It  is  believed  that  brevity  of  treatment  is 

95 


I 


96  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


more  conducive  to  attainment  by  the  reader  of 
a  comprehensive  view  of  the  expressiveness 
of  color  than  an  extensive  and  involved  treat¬ 
ment  which  would  aim  to  prove  that  which  is 
perhaps  incapable  of  much  further  proof  at  the 
present  time.  The  data  which  are  recorded  ap¬ 
pear  to  represent  generally  accepted  usages 
with  a  few  exceptions.  Inasmuch  as  the  cor¬ 
rectness  of  these  significations  cannot  be  ulti¬ 
mately  proved,  although  extended  argument 
would  perhaps  more  firmly  establish  the  justifi¬ 
cation  of  most  of  them  and  perhaps  would  cast 
some  by  the  wayside,  they  are  presented,  with 
reservation,  for  what  they  are  worth.  This 
book  is  a  condensed  review  of  the  products  of 
thought  and  research  in  various  directions 
which  have  been  indulged  in  for  the  purpose  of 
gaining  an  idea  of  the  general  impressions  of 
color  upon  the  intellects  of  mankind  in  general. 
The  study  was  prosecuted  largely  for  two  rea¬ 
sons  ;  first,  to  learn  the  possible  effects  of  colors 
upon  the  human  organism,  and  second,  to 
strengthen  or  to  destroy  the  ideas  of  a  single 
mind  regarding  these  powers  of  colors  by  gain¬ 
ing  an  idea  of  their  effects  upon  civilized  people 
in  general.  By  no  means  is  it  admitted  that  the 
author’s  individual  interpretations  of  the  pow¬ 
ers  of  colors  will  be  cast  aside  entirely  in  future 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  97 


applications  of  color,  but  an  individual  is  justly 
subject  to  criticism  if  be  does  not  consider  the 
impressiveness  and  expressiveness  of  colors  as 
recorded  by  the  millions  who  have  gone  before. 
It  is  recognized  that  scientific  research  will 
doubtless  contribute  much  in  the  future  and 
possibly  render  untenable  some  of  the  argu¬ 
ments  and  conclusions  incorporated  in  this  book 
but  instead  of  awaiting  the  returns  of  science  it 
has  appeared  profitable  to  review  briefly,  and 
perhaps  suggestively,  the  data  which  are  avail¬ 
able. 

In  the  following  treatment  of  the  symbolisms 
of  various  colors  only  the  simplest,  or  most 
common  colors  will  be  used  as  headings  for 
various  chapters.  The  looseness  and  lack  of 
standardization  of  color  terminology  has  caused 
great  difficulties  and  it  has  been  considered  ad¬ 
visable  to  group  various  allied  colors  under  a 
simple  color-name.  In  some  cases  it  has  been 
necessary  to  interpret  the  color  which  is  meant 
and  doubtless  others  may  not  always  agree.  In 
doing  so,  however,  advantage  has  been  taken  of 
intimacy  with  color  terminology  in  its  loose¬ 
ness  and  peculiarities  as  used  by  the  layman, 
the  artist,  and  others  having  various  degrees 
of  interest  in  colors. 

Purple  has  been  included  either  in  the  chap- 


98  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


ter  on  the  symbolism  of  red  or  in  that  of  blue 
(violet)  as  appeared  appropriate.  This  color 
has  a  just  claim  for  individual  treatment  but, 
inasmuch  as  ofttimes  it  is  called  red  (as  in  the 
case  of  blood)  when  it  contains  but  a  small  blue 
component  and  sometimes  blue  or  violet  when 
it  contains  only  a  small  red  component,  it  has 
been  divided  between  these  two  chapters.  In¬ 
cluded  under  the  simple  name,  yellow,  are  a 
vast  number  of  color-names  closely  allied,  such 
as  gold,  orange,  saffron,  citrine,  brown,  etc. 
There  are  many  browns,  some  bordering  on  red 
shades,  others  on  yellow  shades,  and  still  others 
are  close  to  black.  These  have  been  appor¬ 
tioned  according  to  judgment.  Green  is  more 
specific,  yet  it  includes  yellow-greens  and  blue- 
greens  and  such  shades  as  olive.  Blue  is  not 
so  often  confused  as  most  of  the  other  colors  al¬ 
though  violet  and  some  of  the  bluish-purples 
are  included  under  this  color-name. 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  we  have  few  names 
for  the  achromatic  sensations  and  a  great  many 
for  the  chromatic  sensations.  The  relative 
number  of  names  in  the  two  cases  are  not  in  the 
least  proportional  to  the  relative  number  of 
the  two  different  kinds  of  sensations  which  we 
actually  experience.  This  has  the  advantage  of 
simplifying  the  treatment  of  black,  white,  and 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  99 


gray  from  the  present  viewpoint.  The  three 
have  been  treated  briefly  in  separate  chapters 
and  some  of  the  common  significations  of  com¬ 
binations  of  black  and  white  have  been  inter¬ 
spersed.  Some  of  the  dark  shades  of  colors 
have  been  noted  under  black  and  gray.  The 
justification  of  grouping  the  data  under  a  few 
simple  color-names  is  based  upon  simplicity. 
The  use  of  the  colors  red,  yellow,  green,  and 
blue  is  based  on  the  distinctiveness  of  these 
colors  in  the  spectrum.  Purple  does  not  exist 
in  the  spectrum  but  is  fully  as  distinct  as  any 
of  these  four  colors.  It  is  entitled  to  separate 
treatment  but,  as  already  stated,  it  is  used  so 
confusedly  and  interchangeably  with  red,  violet, 
and  blue  that  it  appeared  the  simpler  and  safer 
plan  to  incorporate  it  under  red  or  blue  as  best 
suited  to  the  individual  case.  These  points  are 
worthy  of  consideration  if  this  subject  be  car¬ 
ried  beyond  the  confines  of  this  book.  Success¬ 
ful  application  and  interpretation  of  the  ex¬ 
pressiveness  of  colors  will  depend  upon  a  broad 
acquaintance  with  the  science  of  color  which 
can  be  gained  only  partially  through  contact 
with  books  and  theory.  Contact  with  colors 
themselves  in  all  their  relations  to  the  perceiv¬ 
ing  apparatus  and  to  each  other  is  necessary 
for  a  broad  and  intimate  acquaintance. 


RED 


MANY  symbolic  uses  of  red  have  often 
arisen  from  an  association  with  blood 
and  thus  red  represents  health,  tragedy,  anger 
and  many  attributes  more  or  less  allied  by  this 
association.  Red  has  symbolized  fire,  heat, 
war,  cruelty,  and  hatred,  and  has  signified 
power  and  destruction.  It  has  dyed  the  robes 
of  royalty  and  martyrdom  and  the  red  flag  has 
led  many  warriors  into  battle  whether  repre¬ 
senting  bravery,  strength,  or  blood.  The  latter 
signification  may  share  the  responsibility  for 
the  universal  acceptance  of  red  as  a  danger 
signal  along  with  the  distinctiveness  of  this 
color  and  its  relatively  high  purity  in  Nature. 
Some  of  the  emotions,  such  as  anger  and  shame, 
are  accompanied  by  visible  effects  of  blood 
which  have  given  rise  to  definite  significations 
of  red.  In  its  gentler  offices,  red  is  emblematic 
of  love  and  truth,  as  well  as  of  health  and 
beauty.  In  such  cases  apparently  it  is  not  the 
spectral  red  but  is  usually  a  tint  resulting  from 
dilution  with  white  and  sometimes  with  the  ad¬ 
dition  of  violet.  The  former  is  a  tint  of  red; 
the  latter  is  usually  a  tint  of  purple,  that  is,  a 

100 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  101 


rose  or  pink.  Ofttimes  the  tint  is  clearly  im¬ 
plied  in  such  significations.  Redness  is  indica¬ 
tive  of  the  ardent  passions  as  the  blush  of  love 
and  also  of  bashfulness  or  of  shame.  This 
color  is  often  confused  with  purple  or  the  latter 
term  is  used  metonymically  for  red.  In  fact, 
the  color  of  blood  is  a  purple  in  which  red 
greatly  predominates.  These  pitfalls  must  be 
avoided  in  order  not  to  experience  confusion  in 
attempting  to  analyze  the  various  uses. 

In  the  “Ode  on  the  Passions”  by  Collins  we 
find:  Anger  with  “eyes  on  fire”;  Revenge  with 
“blood-stained  sword”;  and  Cheerfulness  “a 
nymph  of  healthiest  hue.”  Spenser  has  dec¬ 
orated  many  vices  and  virtues  with  colors. 
For  instance,  Faleshood  is  “clad  in  scarlet  red” 
and  Praise-desire  is  clothed  “In  a  long  purple 
pall,  whose  skirt  with  gold  was  fretted.”  Mid¬ 
dleton  writes  of  the  “bashful  rose.” 

Satan  has  been  clothed  with  red  and  black 
and  these  colors  have  symbolized  purgatory  and 
evil  spirits.  On  the  other  hand,  the  red  and 
white  roses  in  the  garland  of  St.  Cecilia  ap¬ 
parently  signify  love  and  innocence.  Gosse 
paints  Cupid’s  lips  “more  red  than  any  rose.” 
Aurora  or  Eos,  “the  rosy-fingered  goddess  of 
the  morn,”  was  the  mother  of  stars,  evening 
breezes,  and  the  morning.  She  is  represented 


102  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


with  rosy  complexion  and  bright  yellow  robes. 
She  rises  from  the  streams  of  Ocean,  is  adorned 
with  the  color  of  the  rose  and  pearls  of  dew  and 
is  drawn  in  a  chariot  by  cream-colored  horses 
to  bring  light  to  mankind.  Sometimes  the 
youthful  and  gayly-clad  Horae  or  Hours,  are 
represented  in  her  company.  In  Guido’s 
“Aurora”  the  colors  are  in  excellent  accord 
with  the  succession  of  colors  at  sunrise.  As 
an  emblem  of  love  and  beauty  the  rose  has 
sometimes  been  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary. 
Red  has  been  widely  used  in  China  at  marriage 
ceremonies. 

In  Greek  mythology  we  find  that  the  Furies 
sprang  into  being  from  the  blood  of  the  muti¬ 
lated  Uranus.  Ovid  described  the  romance  of 
Pyremus  and  Tliiebe;  the  former  was  the  hand¬ 
somest  youth,  and  the  latter  the  fairest  maid,  in 
Babylonia.  They  had  planned  a  meeting  un¬ 
der  a  white  mulberry  tree  but  through  a  mis¬ 
take  each  committed  suicide  under  this  tree. 
Their  blood  reached  the  roots  of  the  tree  so  that 
the  purplish-red  hue  mounted  to  the  berries  and 
henceforth  the  tree  lias  borne  “purple”  ber¬ 
ries. 

In  the  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn  by  Longfellow, 
Thor  the  thunderer,  the  strongest  of  gods  and- 
men,  and  the  eldest  son  of  Odin  says, 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  103 


“The  light  thou  beholdest 
Stream  through  the  heavens, 

In  flashes  of  crimson 
Is  but  my  red  beard 
Blown  by  the  night  wind, 

Affrighting  the  nations!” 

The  convivial  qualities  of  Bacchus  are  often 
touched  upon,  for  example,  as  in  the  following 
by  Dryden, 


“Flushed  with  a  purple  grace.” 

When  purple  inclines  toward  redness  it  has 
long  signified  royalty.  In  this  respect  it  is  a 
regal  and  pompous  color  and  has  been  used  for 
the  robe  of  Jupiter  and  as  a  distinction  of 
priestly  superiority.  It  has  been  a  symbol  of 
heroic  virtue  and  the  Babylonians  are  said  to 
have  clothed  their  idols  with  it.  It  is  used  in 
mourning,  especially  in  court  mourning  and  in 
other  affairs  of  state. 

In  a  description  of  the  musical  contest  be¬ 
tween  Pan  and  Apollo  (the  former  having  had 
the  temerity  to  compare  his  music  with  that  of 
Apollo)  Apollo’s  “robe  of  Tyrian  purple  swept 
the  ground.” 

Amethyst  and  violet  have  symbolized  suffer¬ 
ing,  passion,  love,  and  truth.  Christ  wears  it 
after  the  resurrection,  the  Madonna,  after  the 


104  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


crucifixion  and,  in  general,  penitents  were  clad 
in  it.  When  red  is  diluted  with  white,  and 
sometimes  with  blue,  resulting  in  rose  and  pink, 
it  symbolizes  beauty,  love,  and  hope.  Hence  the 
rose  is  the  emblem  of  the  goddess  Spes  and  the 
Destinies  and  has  been  dedicated  to  the  Virgin 
Mary.  To  look  upon  the  world  “through  rose- 
tinted  glasses”  is  synonymous  to  a  cheerful, 
hopeful,  and  confident  personality. 

Red  is  a  “warm”  color  of  great  power  if  such 
an  expression  is  passable,  however,  when  mixed 
with  sufficient  blue  it  becomes  “neutral”  and 
even  “cold.”  It  is  the  color  given  to  courage 
and  hence  was  a  military  color  especially  in  the 
days  when  warriors  trusted  to  valor  more  than 
to  strategy  and  concealment.  The  red  flag  is 
associated  with  blood  or  danger  and  was  the 
Roman  signal  for  battle,  hence  “hang  out  the 
red  flag”  is  a  common  phrase  especially  in  early 
writing.  Shakespeare  signifies  a  challenge  to 
battle  thus, 

“Stand  for  your  own;  unwind  your  bloody  flag.” 

The  heroes  of  old,  such  as  Scipio  and  Han¬ 
nibal,  are  said  to  have  worn  red  shields,  indi¬ 
cating  strength,  prowess,  and  courage.  In  the 
hands  of  the  anarchist  this  color  denotes  de¬ 
fiance,  hence  the  red  flag  is  a  symbol  of  an  ex- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  105 


trerne  revolutionary  party  or  of  anarchy. 
This  color  is  used  as  a  danger  signal  in  many 
distinct  offices.  It  is  supposed  to  affect  ani¬ 
mals  in  various  ways,  especially  exciting  the 
bull  to  rage. 

“While  Mars,  descending  from  his  crimson  car, 

Fans  with  herce  hands  the  kindling  flames  of  war.” 

— Haller. 

The  poet  sometimes  applies  purple  to  the 
color  of  blood  with  greater  accuracy  than  is 
usual. 

“Oft  came  Edward  to  my  side 
With  purple  falchion,  painted  to  the  hilt 
In  blood  of  those  that  had  encountered  him.” 

— Shakespeare. 

“But  when  the  flaming  torch  was  hurled,  the  sign 
Of  purple  fight,  as  when  the  trumpet  sounds,”  etc. 

— Euripides. 

A  poem  inspired  by  the  horror  of  the  Great 
War  by  Margaret  Widdemer  contains, 

“Ours  is  a  dark  Eastertide 
And  a  scarlet  spring.” 

Shakespeare,  who  was  a  masterful  word-col¬ 
orist,  contributes  many  excellent  symbolic  uses 
of  color  from  which  the  following  have  been 
selected : 


106  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOE 


“Thy  ambition 

Thou  scarlet  sin,  robb’d  this  bewailing  land 
Of  noble  Buckingham.” 

“Thus  conscience  does  make  cowards  of  us  all, 
And  thus  the  native  hue  of  resolution 
Is  sicklied  o’er  with  the  pale  east  of  thought.” 


“And  let’s  be  red  with  mirth.” 


“I  am  the  very  pink  of  courtesy.” 


“He  is  come  to  ope 

The  purple  testament  of  bleeding  war.” 


“If  I  prove  honey-mouth’d,  let  my  tongue  blister, 
And  never  to  my  red-look’d  anger  be 
The  trumpet  any  moi’e.” 


“Beaufort’s  red  sparkling  eyes  blab  his  heart’s  malice.” 


“How  bloodily  the  sun  begins  to  peer 
Above  yon  bushy  hill !  The  day  looks  pale 
At  his  distemperature.” 


“Beauty’s  ensign  yet 
Is  crimson  in  thy  lips  and  in  thy  cheeks 
And  death’s  pale  flag  is  not  advanced  there.” 


“  ’Tis  beauty  truly  blent,  whose  red  and  white 
Nature’s  own  sweet  and  cunning  hand  laid  on.” 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  107 


Many  other  poetical  examples  of  the  symbolic 
use  of  red,  or  of  colors  closely  related  to  it, 
are  available,  from  which  the  following  few 
have  been  selected : 

“Celestial  rosy  red,  Love’s  proper  hue.” 

— Milton. 

“His  (Cupid’s)  lips,  more  red  than  any  rose.” 

— Gosse. 

“Would  you  know  where  young  Love  in  his  beauty  reposes, 
Go — seek  for  the  boy  in  the  Valley  of  Roses.” 

— M.  A.  Brown. 

“The  rosy-finger’d  morning  fair.” 

— Spenser. 


“Morn, 

Wakes  by  the  circling  Hours,  with  rosy  hand 
Unbarr’d  the  gates  of  light.” 

— Milton. 

“For  me  the  balm  shall  bleed,  the  amber  flow, 

The  coral  redden,  and  the  ruby  glow.” 

— Pope. 


“The  scarlet  honour  of  your  peaceful  gown.” 

— Dryden. 

“He  spoke;  the  goddess  with  the  charming  eyes 
Glows  with  celestial  red,  and  thus  replies,” 

— Pope. 


“His  hand  did  quake 
And  tremble  like  an  aspen  green; 


108  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


And  troubled  blood  through  his  pale  face  was  seen 
To  come  and  go;  with  tydings  from  the  heart.” 

— Spenser. 

“Blooming  youth  and  gay  delight 
Sit  on  thy  cheek  confess’d.” 

— Prior. 


“In  every  breathing  bloom  I  find 
Some  pleasing  emblem  of  thy  mind, 

The  blushes  of  the  op’ning  rose 
Thy  tender  modesty  disclose.” 

— Richardson. 


YELLOW 


YELLOW  and  orange,  their  neighboring 
hues  and  various  tints  and  shades  are 
warm  colors  whose  most  striking  characteris¬ 
tic  perhaps  is  luminosity.  The  brighter  colors 
are  symbolic  of  light  and  warmth,  and  in  this 
sense  yellow  is  also  gaudy,  gay,  lustrous,  and 
enlivening.  It  is  the  natural  emblematical 
color  for  the  sun.  In  China,  yellow  has  been 
quite  extensively  employed  as  a  regal  and 
sacred  color.  Perhaps  for  lack  of  euphony  it 
appears  often  under  the  guise  of  golden,  saf¬ 
fron,  brown,  sallow,  tawny,  orient,  citrine,  and 
many  other  names.  The  colors  grouped  here 
under  yellow  are  very  extensively  employed  by 
the  poets  in  many  variations  of  hue,  tint,  and 
shade. 

As  a  symbol  of  light  and  warmth  Aurora  is 
clothed  in  “saffron  robes.” 

“Soon  as  the  white  and  red  mixt  finger’d  dame 
Has  gilt  the  mountain  with  her  saffron  flame.” 

— Chapman. 

“Heaven’s  golden-wing’d  herald.” 

— Crashaw. 

Somewhat  akin  to  this,  Spenser  arrays 

109 


110  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


Charity  in  “yellow  robes”  and  the  warmth  of 
the  hues  allied  with  yellow  is  exemplified  in, — 

“Extremes  alike  in  either  hue  behold, 

Hot  in  the  golden;  in  the  silvery,  cold.” 

— Shee. 

In  the  Ode  to  Passions,  Collins  refers  to 
“brown  Exercise”  and  similarly  Thomson 
sings  of, — 

“The  rustic  youth,  brown  with  meridian  toil, 
Healthful  and  strong.” 

In  the  sense  of  being  glorious  and  lustrous  it 
is  often  used  thus, — 

“And  Fame,  with  golden  wings  aloft  doth  fly.” 

— Spenser. 

Yellow  and  its  allied  colors  often  denote 
harvest  or  fruition. 

“The  yellow  harvest’s  countless  seed.” 

— Byron. 

“Yellow,  mellow,  ripened  days, 

Sheltered  in  a  golden  coating.” 

— Will  Carleton. 

Gold  has  the  additional  conspicuous  quality 
of  brilliancy  and  metallic  luster  and  often  rep¬ 
resents  glory  and  power.  Doubtless  the  in¬ 
trinsic  value  of  gold  has  largely  influenced  its 
symbolic  use. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  111 


The  cross  is  often  of  gold  and  the  five  wounds 
of  crucified  Christ  sometimes  are  represented 
by  inserting  as  many  rubies,  one  in  the  center 
of  the  cross  and  one  at  each  extremity.  Silver 
is  also  employed  in  this  respect.  The  gold  and 
silver  are  perhaps  symbolical  of  light,  bright¬ 
ness,  and  sanctity.  Yellow  or  gold  has  been 
emblematic  of  the  sun,  of  marriage  and  fruitful¬ 
ness  and  of  God’s  goodness.  In  some  repre¬ 
sentations  St.  Peter  and  St.  Joseph  are  clothed 
in  yellow. 

The  glory,  aureole,  and  nimbus  usually 
painted  in  yellow  or  gold,  represent  brilliancy, 
light,  and  sanctity.  The  aureole  surrounds  the 
whole  body,  and  the  nimbus  encircles  the  head. 
The  glory  is  a  combination  of  the  two.  Strictly, 
only  persons  of  the  God  head  were  endowed 
with  the  aureole,  but  the  Virgin  Mary  is  invested 
with  it  in  representations  of  various  events. 
The  glory  belongs  to  the  Virgin  as  well  as  to 
God.  The  nimbus  belongs  to  all  saints  and 
holy  persons.  These  symbols  began  to  appear 
in  Christian  art  about  the  fifth  century  and 
their  color  in  all  great  painting  is  golden,  sym¬ 
bolic  of  light,  glory  and  divine  power.  In 
miniatures  sometimes  these  symbols  have  been 
painted  different  colors.  It  is  believed  by  some 
that  the  colors  are  symbolical,  but  nobody 


112  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


versed  in  the  art  and  traditions  of  Christianity 
has  ventured  an  analysis. 

Orange  or  brown  in  the  darker  and  less  beau¬ 
tiful  shades  appear  to  be  used  sometimes  as 
emblems  of  distrust  or  deceit,  and  yellow  is 
sometimes  associated  with  indecency,  morbid¬ 
ity,  decay,  cowardice,  and  indecent  sensational¬ 
ism  as  in  the  case  of  “yellow  journalism.” 
Yellow  is  used  to  clothe  various  malign  pas¬ 
sions.  A  yellowish  complexion  often  indicates 
illness  and  this  same  color,  usually  with  a  green¬ 
ish  tinge  expressed  or  implied,  is  very  generally 
used  as  a  symbol  of  jealousy.  Examples  of  the 
foregoing  are: 

‘‘The  cynosure  of  jaundiced  eyes.” 

— Shakespeare. 

“I  will  possess  him  of  yellowness.” 

— Idem. 

“Jealous  piques, 

Which  tli’  ancients  wisely  signified 
By  th’  yellow  mantoes  of  the  bride.” 

— Butler. 

“And  Jalousie 

That  wered  of  yelw  colors  a  gerlond 
And  had  a  cuckow  sitting  on  hir  hond.” 

— Chaucer. 

“0  jealousy, 

Thou  ugliest  fiend  of  hell !  thy  deadly  venom 
Preys  on  iny  vitals,  turns  the  healthful  hue 
Of  my  fresh  cheek  to  haggard  sallowness, 

And  drinks  my  spirit  up !” 


— Hannah  More, 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  113 


‘‘And  jealousy,  suffused  with  jaundice  in  her  eyes, 
Discolouring  all  she  viewed.” 

— Dryden. 

The  dingy  yellow  or  brown,  such  as  often  dis¬ 
tinguishes  the  garments  of  Judas,  signifies,  be¬ 
sides  jealousy,  deceit  and  inconstancy.  This 
color  has  also  been  used  in  the  past  to  mark  the 
abodes  of  traitors  and  other  criminals. 

“His  very  hair  is  of  the  dissembling  colour 
Something  browner  than  Judas’s.” 

— Shakespeare. 

Yellow  is  also  associated  with  sickness  and 
disease,  hence  the  yellow  flag  is  used  as  a  sani¬ 
tary  signal  being  displayed  on  vessels  having 
on  board  cases  of  infectious  or  contagious  dis¬ 
eases.  It  serves  this  office  on  quarantined 
ships  and  houses  and  has  indicated  hospitals  in 
time  of  war.  In  the  latter  case  it  assumes  the 
role  of  protector. 

Orange  apparently  has  partaken  of  many  of 
the  qualities  of  the  colors  related  to  it  and  is 
used  in  a  corresponding  manner. 

Brown,  which  inclines  toward  red  and  black, 
is  more  grave.  It  signifies  strength,  solidity, 
vigor  and,  to  some  degree,  sadness.  The 
“melancholy  days”  of  autumn  are  painted 
largely  in  a  brown  key.  This  color,  in  perhaps 


114  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


an  extreme  application  of  the  preceding,  is  re¬ 
garded  by  some  as  emblematic  of  sluggishness. 
In  Nature  it  represents  maturity. 


GREEN 


GREEN  is  employed  to  signify  youth  and 
vigor  perhaps  through  the  association  of 
green  with  the  spring  of  the  year.  At  least 
green  is  more  impressive  in  spring  because  of 
its  newness.  It  also  has  been  used  to  express 
hope  and  victory,  and  olive,  a  green  shade,  is 
symbolical  of  solitude  and  peace.  As  com¬ 
pared  with  other  colors  of  the  spectrum  it  is 
relatively  neutral  and  some  of  its  symbolic  uses 
appear  to  be  the  result  of  the  prominence  of  this 
characteristic.  To  poets,  green  is  indicative 
also  of  cheerfulness,  as  “cheerful  green,” 
plenty,  life,  and  immortality,  and  through  its 
association  with  the  spring  of  life  it  is  widely 
used  as  a  symbol  of  inexperience.  When  green 
is  tinged  with  yellow  it  apparently  assumes 
some  of  the  attributes  of  yellow.  It  also  is 
used  throughout  poetry  in  the  same  relative 
abundance  as  it  is  found  in  nature,  although  the 
pure  symbolic  uses  do  not  appear  to  be  as 
numerous  as  might  be  expected  perhaps  owing 
to  its  neutral  characteristic. 

Green  as  the  color  of  spring  is  an  emblem  of 
hope,  victory  and  plenty.  Verdure  indicates 

115 


116  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


life  and  hence  green  is  emblematic  of  immor¬ 
tality.  Saturn  is  crowned  with  evergreen,  and 
the  custom  of  strewing  green  foliage  upon 
graves  is  consistent  with  this  analogy  as  is  the 
adornment  of  Poets  and  Time  with  fillets  of 
green.  This  color  also  signifies  Youth,  the 
spring  of  life.  In  Ovid,  Apollo  says  to  the 
laurel  tree  into  which  Daphne  whom  he  loved 
was  transformed, 

“And  as  eternal  youth  is  mine,  thou  also  shalt 
Be  always  green  and  thy  leaf  know  no  decay.” 

This  color  has  also  denoted  memory  and  in 
a  few  early  instances  was  held  to  be  sacred  or  a 
holy  color.  The  poets  have  used  this  color  ex¬ 
tensively  according  to  analogy,  fancy,  and  to  its 
use  in  Nature.  In  mythological  representa¬ 
tions  the  hair  and  garments  of  Neptune,  the 
Dryades,  and  the  Naiades  are  dyed  with  green. 

It  is  of  interest  in  passing  to  note  how  a 
color  may  become  woven  into  the  traditions  of 
a  people  and  cherished  in  the  extreme  due 
chiefly  to  continued  association.  For  example, 
green  means  far  more  to  the  Irish  race  than  to 
other  civilized  peoples  at  the  present  time. 

In  liturgy  green  denotes  faith,  immortality, 
resurrection  of  the  just,  and  gladness  of  the 
faithful.  In  some  churches  green  is  used  for 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  117 


Easter  and  in  mediaeval  days  was  associated 
with  the  Feast  of  the  Trinity.  In  these  offices 
the  color  perhaps  signifies  the  rejoicing  of  the 
faithful.  As  an  ecclesiastical  color  it  prevails 
in  one  church  from  Trinity  to  Advent  Sunday. 

The  following  are  a  few  selected  examples 
from  the  poets : 

“You  are  too  wise  in  years,  too  full  of  counsel, 

For  my  green  experience.” 

— Ford. 


“My  salad  days, 

When  I  was  green  in  judgment,  cold  in  blood.” 

— Shakespeare. 

“The  memory  be  green.” 

— Idem. 


“That  yon  green  boy  shall  have  no  sun  to  ripe 
The  bloom  that  promiseth  a  mighty  fruit.” 

— Idem. 


“While  virgin  Spring,  by  Eden’s  flood, 

Unfolds  her  tender  mantle  green.” 

— Burns. 

“Green  is  indeed  the  color  of  lovers.” 

— Shakespeare. 

“And  with  a  green  and  yellow  melancholy, 

She  sat  like  Patience  on  a  monument, 

Smiling  at  grief.” 


— Idem, 


118  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


“0,  beware,  my  lord,  of  jealousy, 

It  is  the  green-eyed  monster,  which  doth  mock 
The  meat  it  feeds  on.” 

— Idem. 


“Eternal  Spring,  with  smiling  Verdure  here 
Warms  the  mild  air,  and  crowns  the  youthful  Year.” 

— Garth. 

“But  he  her  fears  to  cease 
Sent  down  the  meek-eyed  Peace; 

She,  crown’d  with  olive  green,  came  softly  sliding 
Down  through  the  burning  sphere.” 

— Milton. 


“The  wreaths  of  cheerful  May.” 

— Collins. 

“Where  Peace,  with  ever-blooming  olive,  crowns 
The  gate  where  Honour’s  liberal  hands  effuse 
Unenvy’d  treasures.” 

— Akenside. 

“In  jealous  Pisa’s  olive  shade!” 

— Collins. 

Sometimes  green  is  used  to  signify  illness  but 
doubtless  in  all  cases  the  word  is  used  for  eu¬ 
phony  instead  of  yellow-green.  In  cases  of 
this  character  the  tint  is  usually  clearly  implied. 
For  instance, — 

“To  look  so  green  and  pale.” 

— Shakespeare. 


BLUE 


THE  quality  or  attribute  most  striking  in 
blue  is  coldness  and,  as  is  true  of  other 
colors,  it  communicates  this  property  in  vary¬ 
ing  degree  to  all  colors  which  contain  blue  com¬ 
ponents.  Another  conspicuous  characteristic 
is  its  proximity  to  black.  Many  of  the  symbolic 
uses  of  blue  apparently  have  arisen  from  its 
property  of  coldness  and  from  the  association 
of  blue  with  the  firmament.  From  its  coldness 
it  is  characterized  as  dignified  and  soothing; 
from  its  shadowy  nature  it  signifies  sedateness 
and  melancholy;  and  doubtless,  from  being  the 
color  of  clear  sky  it  has  been  associated  with 
heaven,  hope,  constancy,  fidelity,  serenity,  gen¬ 
erosity,  intelligence,  and  truth.  In  many  re¬ 
spects  it  is  opposed  to  orange  or  yellow,  its 
complementary.  In  an  ancient  doctrine  the 
blue  of  the  sky  is  supposed  to  be  a  compound  of 
light  and  darkness.  The  expression  of  “true- 
blue”  for  constancy  and  fidelity  is  commonly 
used  and  perhaps  originated  with  mariners 
from  associating  the  blue  sky  with  freedom 
from  storms.  Hope  is  “clad  in  blue”  by  Spen¬ 
ser.  Minerva  is  often  clothed  in  blue  robes  and 

119 


120  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOE 


personifications  of  Poetry  have  been  draped  in 
this  hue.  In  Nature,  the  blue  sky  is  conspicu¬ 
ous  and  has  affected  some  primitive  peoples 
deeply.  The  association  of  blue  with  the  heav¬ 
ens  doubtless  has  been  responsible  for  the  sym¬ 
bolic  use  of  this  color  for  divinity,  divine  love, 
and  supreme  intelligence.  In  a  similar  man¬ 
ner,  combined  with  the  belief  that  “the  eye  is 
the  window  of  the  soul”  blue  eyes  have  been 
symbolic  of  intelligence.  This  color  also  has 
been  associated  with  the  learned  or  pedantic 
and  aristocratic  as  “blue-blooded.” 

“Some  ladies  were  very  blue  and  well  informed.” 

— Thackeray. 

Blue  is  a  conspicuous  color  in  many  repre¬ 
sentations  of  biblical  events.  Christ,  the  Vir¬ 
gin  Mary,  and  St.  John  have  often  been  clothed 
in  mantles  of  blue.  This  color  is  also  promi¬ 
nent  in  mythological  representations.  The  veil 
of  Juno,  the  goddess  of  air,  is  blue;  Diana  or 
the  Moon  is  clothed  in  blue  and  white  or  sil¬ 
very  robes ;  and  Isis  of  the  Egyptians  and  her 
priests  have  been  clad  in  “pure  azure.”  Mi¬ 
nerva,  who  in  Homer’s  Odyssey  is  “azure¬ 
eyed,”  is  distinguished  by  a  mantle  of  blue. 
She  sprang  from  the  brain  of  Jove  and,  al¬ 
though  being  the  goddess  of  storms  and  war, 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  121 


was  also  possessed  of  a  fair  and  thoughtful 
nature.  She  was  eternally  a  virgin  and  god¬ 
dess  of  wisdom,  generosity,  and  thought. 
Hence, 

“The  blue-eyed  progeny  of  Jove.” 

— Dryden. 

In  his  poem,  Venus  of  Milo,  E.  R.  Sill  sings, 

“The  tremulous  rosy  morn  is  her  mouth’s  smile, 

The  sky,  her  laughing  azure  eyes  above.” 

In  liturgy  blue  is  symbolical  of  hope,  love  of 
divine  works,  Christian  prudence,  a  serene  con¬ 
science,  sincerity,  divine  contemplation,  and 
piety.  Blue  robes  have  been  worn  by  priests  at 
the  grave  and  it  is  believed  that  the  color  used 
in  this  case  is  symbolic  of  heaven.  The  Levites 
wore  this  color  as  the  livery  of  heaven. 

The  attribute  of  harmony  is  sometimes  be¬ 
stowed  upon  this  color.  For  instance, 

“Where’er  we  gaze, — around,  above,  below, 

What  rainbow  tints,  what  magic  charms  are  found! 
Rock,  river,  forest,  mountain,  all  abound, 

And  bluest  skies  that  harmonize  the  whole.” 

— Byron. 

Blue  is  often  associated  with  coldness  and 
melancholy  and  with  dismal  and  unpromising 
prospects. 


122  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


“Oh,  coward  Conscience!  how  dost  thou  afflict  me! 
The  lights  bum  blue!” 


— Shakespeare. 


“The  pale  violet’s  dejected  hue.” 

— Akenside. 

Other  symbolic  uses  of  this  color  by  the  poets 
are  exemplified  in  the  following: 

“Long,  Pity,  let  the  nations  view 
Thy  sky-worn  robes  of  tend’rest  blue, 

And  eyes  of  dewy  lig’ht.” 

— Collins. 

“And  heal  the  harms  of  thwarting  thunder  blue.” 

— Milton. 


WHITE 


IT  is  not  surprising  to  find  white  used  as 
symbolic  of  light,  purity,  chastity,  innocence, 
truth,  modesty,  and  peace.  In  a  somewhat  al¬ 
lied  sense,  in  which  the  attribute  of  physical 
weakness  predominates,  it  is  emblematic  of 
femininity,  delicacy,  and  infirmity,  which  usage 
doubtless  arises  from  the  association  of  a  pale 
complexion  with  ill-health,  lack  of  stamina,  or 
a  delicate  constitution.  White  is  synonymous 
to  unadulterated  or  unchanged  light  and  its  at¬ 
tributes  are  obviously  quite  opposed  to  those 
supposed  to  be  possessed  by  black. 

To  Jupiter,  the  Roman  lord  of  heaven  and  of 
light,  white  was  sacred.  White  horses  drew  his 
chariot  and  white  animals  were  sacrificed  to 
him  by  consuls  who  were  clothed  in  this  color. 
His  priests  were  crowned  with  white  head-gear. 
The  white  vestments  of  priests  and  of  the 
Pythagoreans  were  emblematic  of  peace  and 
purity.  The  lily  has  often  been  used  to  signify 
chastity  and  belongs  to  St.  Antony  of  Padua, 
St.  Catherine  of  Siena,  St.  Casimir,  St.  Clara, 
and  others.  The  crucifix  entwined  with  lilies 
has  been  bestowed  upon  St.  Nicholas  of  Tolen- 

123 


124  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


tino  and  upon  many  who  especially  dedicated 
themselves  to  the  Virgin  Mary.  White  is  worn 
by  the  latter  in  representations  of  the  Assump¬ 
tion  and  by  Christ  after  his  resurrection. 
White  as  the  color  of  purity  and  joy  is  used  on 
the  festivals  of  Christ,  Mary,  the  angels,  and 
unmartyred  saints  and  also  at  marriages.  In 
Anglican  churches  this  is  the  prevailing  color 
throughout  Eastertide. 

White  is  often  emblematic  of  humility  and 
when  worn  by  the  judiciary  symbolizes  integ¬ 
rity.  In  old  Roman  paintings,  Friendship  has 
been  draped  in  white.  Truth  has  been  idealized 
by  a  woman  holding  lilies.  Venus,  the  goddess 
of  love  and  beauty,  was  the  daughter  of  Jupiter 
and  Diana  and,  according  to  one  version,  she 
sprang  from  the  foam  of  the  sea  at  the  time  of 
the  wounding  of  Uranus.  She  is  therefore 
called  Aphrodite,  the  “foam  born,”  by  the 
Greeks.  The  Hours  and  the  Graces  wove  robes 
for  her  that  “reflected  the  hues  and  breathed 
the  perfumes  of  crocus,  hyacinth,  violet,  rose, 
lily,  and  narcissus.”  Poetry  has  been  personi¬ 
fied  holding  white  roses  and  Roman  poets 
clothed  their  god,  Pietas,  in  white.  Spenser 
writes  of  the  “virgin  lilie”  and  Middleton 
likens  the  “holy  dew  of  prayer”  to  a  pearl. 
Owing  to  its  eminent  luminosity,  white  is  used 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  125 


to  enliven  without  the  aspect  of  gayety.  We 
also  have  the  white  flag  of  surrender  and  of 
peace,  the  “white  feather”  of  timidity  and  the 
white  shield  of  untried  manhood. 

In  liturgy  white  quite  naturally  symbolizes 
purity,  temperance,  innocence,  and  as  a  back¬ 
ground  for  figures  of  saints  signifies  chastity. 
In  China,  white  is  the  color  used  in  mourning. 

Examples  of  symbolic  uses  of  this  color  by 
the  poets  are, 

“White-robed  innocence.” 

— Pope. 

“The  snowy  wings  of  Innocence  and  Love.” 

— Akenside. 

“As  chaste  as  unsunn’d  snow.” 

• — Shakespeare. 


“Now,  by  my  maiden  honour,  yet  as  pure 
As  the  unsullied  lily,  I  protest.” 

— Idem. 


“Dark-wounding  Calumny 
The  whitest  virtue  strikes.” 

— Idem. 


“Thou  tremblest,  and  the  whiteness  on  thy  cheek 
Is  apter  than  thy  tongue  to  tell  thy  errand.” 

— Idem. 


“Yea  Jupiter!  But  why  this  mortal  guise, 
Wooing  as  if  he  were  a  milk-faced  boy?” 

E.  R.  Sill. 


126  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


“White  robed  truth.” 

— Milton. 

“The  saintly  veil  of  maiden  white.” 

— Idem. 

“White  as  thy  fame  and  as  thy  honour  clear.” 

— Drtoen. 

“By  the  semblance 

Of  their  white  flags  display’d,  they  bring  us  peace.” 

— Shakespeare. 

“My  hands  are  of  your  color,  but  I  shame 
To  wear  a  heart  so  white.” 

— Idem. 


BLACK 


S  might  be  expected,  the  symbolic  uses  of 


black  have  been  quite  opposed  to  those 
of  white.  It  has  signified  woe,  gloom,  darkness, 
dread,  and  death  and,  in  a  severer  aspect,  terror, 
horror,  wickedness,  and  crime.  When  used 
with  white,  the  latter  appears  to  rid  it  of  its 
baseness  or  to  tone  its  severeness.  In  this  com¬ 
bination  it  has  been  variously  used  to  symbolize 
humility,  melancholy,  resolution,  solemnity, 
secrecy,  and  prudence.  Among  civilized  people 
it  has  been  for  ages  the  ensign  of  woe,  mourning, 
and  death.  It  is  the  most  retiring  of  colors  and 
in  painting  it  has  been  used  to  express  solem¬ 
nity,  profundity,  and  endless  extent.  The 
“black  sheep”  signifies  an  individual  different 
than  the  rest  and  usually  in  an  uncomplimen¬ 
tary  sense.  This  color  is  variously  applied 
suggestively  as  “black  tidings,”  “black  Fri¬ 
day,”  “black  aspect,”  “black  augury,”  and 
“black  looks.”  The  black  flag  is  associated 
with  piracy  and  with  warfare  when  no  quarter 
is  to  be  given.  Spenser  clothes  Idleness  in  a 
“habit  black.” 

It  is  said  that  the  ancient  sculptors  executed 


127 


128  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOE 

( 

statues  of  Jupiter,  the  terrible,  in  black  marble 
and  of  Jupiter,  the  mild,  in  white.  Pluto’s 
chariot  was  supposed  to  have  been  drawn  by 
black  horses,  and  black  sheep  were  sacrificed 
to  him.  Odin,  a  great  and  severe  god  in  North¬ 
ern  mythology,  rode  a  black  horse  as  Gray  says, 

‘“Uprose  the  king-  of  men  with  speed 
And  saddled  straight  his  coal-black  steed.” 

Black  was  the  garb  of  the  Harpies  and  the 
Furies,  the  daughters  of  Night.  In  mythology, 
Mors,  or  Death,  is  represented  with  pale  face 
and  clad  in  black  garments.  Somnus,  god  of 
sleep  and  brother  of  Death,  is  draped  in  black, 
and  statues  of  him  were  often  made  of  ebony 
and  black  marble.  Night,  the  mother  of  all 
these  figurative  beings,  is  clad  in  a  black  mantle 
studded  with  stars,  has  sable  wings,  and  is 
sometimes  drawn  in  an  ebony  chariot. 

“Eldest  Night 

And  Chaos,  ancestors  of  Nature.” 

— Milton. 

“Sable-vested  Night,  eldest  of  things.” 

— Idem. 


“Night  with  her  sullen  wings.” 
“0  thievish  night.” 


— Idem. 


— Idem. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  129 


“Ghostly,  grim  and  ancient  Raven,  wandering  from  the 
Nightly  shore, 

Tell  me  what  thy  lordly  name  is  on  the  Night’s  Plutonian 
shore !” 

— Pope. 

But  night  has  another  aspect;  its  silent, 
starry,  endless  expanse  awakens  imagination. 
Who  has  gazed  at  the  studded  sky  in  the  silence 
of  midnight  wTho  has  not  imagined  as  at  no 
other  time?  Imagination  is  another  world  and 
the  nearly  infinitely  distant  stars,  as  attracting 
magnets,  seem  to  draw  the  imagination  far  into 
another  world.  At  no  other  period  of  the  day 
is  the  purely  imaginative  mood  so  fostered  as 
at  night  with  its  freedom  from  distractions. 

It  has  been  stated  that  ancient  poets  and 
painters  represented  Hesperus,  or  evening,  “as 
a  double  investure  of  light  and  shade.”  As 
Lucifer  and  Phosphorus  they  give  him  a  white 
horse,  and  as  Hesperus  a  black  one.  Black  has 
been  associated  with  witchcraft  and  from  its 
association  with  mystery  arose  the  term  “black 
art.” 

In  northern  mythology,  the  white  spirits  or 
Elves  of  Light,  according  to  Bulfinch,  were 
“fair,  more  brilliant  than  the  sun,  and  clad  in 
garments  of  delicate  and  transparent  texture.” 
They  lived  in  the  domain  of  Freyr,  the  god  of 


130  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


the  sun,  and  sported  in  light.  “The  black  or 
Night  Elves  were  a  different  kind  of  creature. 
Ugly,  long-nosed  dwarfs,  of  a  dirty  brown  color, 
they  appeared  only  at  night.  Their  language 
was  the  echo  of  solitudes,  and  their  dwelling 
places  subterranean  caves  and  clefts.”  Black 
is  often  given  to  Satan  symbolizing  wickedness 
and  death. 

Examples  of  the  symbolic  use  of  black  by 
Shakespeare  are : 

“Look’d  black  upon  me;  struck  me  with  her  tongue, 
Most  serpent-like,  upon  the  very  heart.” 

“Nor  customary  suits  of  solemn  black.” 

“Arise,  black  vengeance,  from  thy  hollow  cell.” 

“How  now,  you  secret,  black,  and  midnight  hags?” 

“News  fitted  to  the  night, — 

Black,  fearful,  comfortless,  and  horrible.” 

“Youth  no  less  becomes 
The  light  and  careless  livery  that  it  wears, 

Than  settled  age  his  sables  and  his  weeds, 
Importing  health  and  graveness.” 

“Taking  thy  part,  hath  rush’d  aside  the  law, 

And  turned  that  black  word  death  to  banishment.” 

“Black  lust,  dishonour,  shame,  misgoverning.” 

“And  beauty  dead,  black  chaos  comes  again.” 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  131 


“Black  is  the  badge  of  bell, 

The  hue  of  dungeons  and  the  scowl  of  night.” 

The  power  of  black  in  poetry  is  strikingly 
shown  in  the  following  to  be  equal  to  its  power 
in  painting : 

“Hence,  loathed  Melancholy, 

Of  Cerberus  and  blackest  Midnight  born, 

In  stygian  cave  forlorn, 

’Mongst  horrid  shapes,  and  shrieks,  and  sights  unholy, 
Find  out  some  uncouth  cell, 

Where  brooding  Darkness  spreads  his  jealous  wings, 
And  the  night-raven  sings; 

There,  under  ebon  shades,  and  low  brow’d  rocks, 

As  ragged  as  thy  locks, 

In  dark  Cimmerian  desert  ever  dwell.” 

— Milton. 

Other  symbolical  uses  of  black  are  presented 
in  the  following  examples : 

“Not  the  black  gates  of  Hades  are  to  me 
More  hostile  or  more  hateful,  than  the  man 
Whose  tongue  holds  no  communion  with  his  heart.” 

— Sydenham. 

“O’erlaid  with  black,  staid  Wisdom’s  hue.” 

— Milton. 

“There  the  black  gibbet  glooms  beside  the  way.” 

—Goldsmith. 


“The  black  and  doleful  ebonie.” 

— Spenser. 


132  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


* 


“Black  tidings  there, — blacker  never  came  to  New  England.” 

— Hawthorne. 

“A  great  black  swamp  and  evil  smell.” 

— Tennyson. 

Black  is  one  of  the  most  important  pigments 
to  the  artist.  It  combines  well  with  all  colors 
and  this  characteristic  has  sometimes  led  to  its 
symbolical  use  occasionally  in  a  harmonious 
sense  seemingly  inconsistent  with  other  uses  if 
this  attribute  is  not  recognized.  It  harmonizes 
well  with  the  gayest  colors  and  the  representa¬ 
tion  of  the  goddess  Flora  in  a  black  mantle  is  ap¬ 
propriate  in  this  sense.  Gray  has  beautifully 
expressed  this  idea  thus : 

“The  hues  of  bliss  more  brightly  glow, 

Chasten’d  by  sabler  tints  of  woe ; 

And  blended,  form  with  artful  strife, 

The  strength  and  harmony  of  life.” 


GEAY 


IN  many  respects  the  expressiveness  of  gray 
partakes  partially  of  the  attributes  of  both 
black  and  white  and  is  sometimes  a  well-defined 
mean  of  their  characteristics.  It  is  the  color  of 
penance,  humility,  sadness,  age  and  matured 
judgment.  Spenser  speaks  of  Humbleness  as 
‘‘aged  sire,  hoary  gray”  and  of  Reverence, 
“cleanly  clad  in  comely  sad  attire.”  In  Nature 
it  is  ofttimes  considered  cool,  retiring  and  sug¬ 
gestive  of  distance.  The  skies  of  winter  and  of 
rainy  days  are  often  of  a  grayish  or  leaden  color 
and  the  dreariness  associated  with  such  bleak 
periods  of  “leaden  dullness”  appears  to  have 
been  inherited  by  this  color.  To  Thomson, 
Winter  is  “sullen  and  sad”  as  he  “spreads  his 
latest  glooms”  and  many  poets  share  a  similar 
sentiment  regarding  this  season.  The  ap¬ 
proaching  night,  with  its  “twilight  gray”  asso¬ 
ciated  with  quietude  and  a  note  of  sobriety  or 
sadness,  has  lent  its  assistance  in  attaching 
these  attributes  to  this  color. 

According  to  their  traditions,  the  Dominicans 
wore  a  habit  requested  by  the  Virgin  Mary. 
This  was  composed  of  black  and  white,  the 

133 


134  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


former  symbolizing  mortification  and  the  latter 
purity.  Various  monastic  orders  wear  black, 
gray  and  brown  in  different  combinations.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  the  colors  were  invariably 
neutral  or  nearly  so.  The  Greeks  often  repre¬ 
sented  Jupiter  clothed  in  the  skin  of  a  gray 
goat. 

Gray  apparently  takes  a  consistent  place  be¬ 
tween  black  and  white  according  to  its  usage  by 
the  poets  as  might  be  suggested  in  these  lines 
by  Pope, 

“If  white  and  black  blend,  soften  and  unite 
A  thousand  ways,  is  there  no  black  and  white?” 

It  has  been  used  to  signify  humility,  penance, 
piety,  matured  judgment,  sobriety,  fear,  and 
death.  As  already  stated,  it  appears  to  as¬ 
sume  attributes  similar  to  those  of  its  compo¬ 
nents,  black  and  white,  even  when  the  latter  are 
unmixed  but  used  simultaneously.  As  a  back¬ 
ground  for  paintings  of  saints  it  signifies  tribu¬ 
lation. 


“Let  hoary  Judgment,  sober  guest, 

Bring  Candour  in  her  lilied  vest.” 

“Now  came  still  evening  on,  and  twilight  gray, 
Had,  in  her  sober  lively,  all  things  clad.” 

—Milton. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  135 


"For  all  was  black,  bleak,  and  gray, — 

It  was  not  night— -it  was  not  day.” 

— Byron. 

"Gray-headed  men  and  grave  warriors  mixt.” 

— Milton. 

"Oh !  how  unseemly  shews  in  blooming  youth 
Such  grey  severity.” 

— Idem. 


"The  roses  in  thy  lips  and  cheeks  shall  fade 
To  paly  ashes,  thy  eye’s  windows  fall.” 

— Shakespeare. 


VARIOUS  COLORS 


IN  closing  this  section,  in  which  it  has  been 
the  aim  to  discuss  the  expression  and  sym¬ 
bolism  of  colors  by  means  of  data  as  definite  as 
obtainable,  a  few  illustrations  of  the  use  of  light 
and  colors  in  various  combinations  will  be  pre¬ 
sented.  Some  of  these  examples  will  be  selected 
from  the  poets  who  exhibit  a  wonderfully  re¬ 
fined  feeling  for  color  in  painting  their  many 
vari-colored  sketches.  They  also  reveal  a 
highly  developed  sense  of  appropriateness  in 
the  application  of  color  and  a  masterly  skill  in 
contrasting  and  in  harmonizing  colors.  The  lat¬ 
ter  viewpoint  is  not  of  direct  interest  in  the 
present  work  but  it  is  of  interest  in  passing.  In 
some  of  the  following  examples  colors  have 
been  used  symbolically  although  more  or  less 
vaguely. 

“Seest  how  fresh  my  flowers  been  spread, 

Dyed  in  lily-white  and  crimson-red, 

With  leaves  ingrained  in  rustic  green, 

Colours  meet  to  cloathe  a  maiden  queen.” 

— Spenser. 


“To  thee,  sweet  smiling  maid,  I  bring 
The  beauteous  progeny  of  spring; 

In  every  breathing  bloom  I  find 
136 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  137 


Some  pleasing  emblem  of  thy  mind. 

The  blushes  of  that  op’ning  rose 
Thy  tender  modesty  disclose. 

The  snow-white  lilies  of  the  vale, 

Diffusing  fragrance  to  the  gale, 

No  ostentatious  tints  assume, 

Vain  of  their  exquisite  perfume; 

Careless,  and  sweet,  and  mild,  we  see 
In  them  a  lovely  type  of  thee.” 

— Richardson. 

“There  is  something  in  the  autumn  that  is  native  to  my 
blood — 

Touch  of  manner,  hint  of  mood ; 

And  my  heart  is  like  a  rhyme 

With  the  yellow  and  the  purple  and  the  crimson  keeping 
time.” 

— W.  B.  Carman. 

Ofttimes  the  word,  color,  is  used  suggestively 
as  in  the  following, 

“Colouring  with  astonishment  and  disdain.” 

— Jane  Austen. 

“Figures  of  poetrie 
Or  coloures  of  rethorik.” 

— Chaucer. 

The  lamp,  lantern  and  taper  are  often  the 
symbols  of  piety,  but  according  to  Clement  the 
lamp  as  the  attribute  of  St.  Lucia  signifies 
heavenly  wisdom  or  spiritual  light.  Fire  and 
flames  are  sometimes  emblematic  of  zeal  or  the 
sufferings  of  martyrdom.  The  flaming  heart 


138  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


most  frequently  signifies  piety  and  divine  love. 
Isis,  the  goddess  of  the  rainbow,  is  represented 
as  the  messenger  of  the  gods. 

In  the  Library  of  Congress,  Carl  Gutherz  has 
painted  a  pictorial  spectrum  of  light  which  con¬ 
sists  of  idealizations  of  the  seven  principal  col¬ 
ors.  The  significations  are  not  all  clear  but 
they  are  presented  here  for  reference.  Violet 
(akin  to  purple)  is  the  light  of  State;  indigo, 
the  light  of  Science;  blue,  of  Truth;  green,  of 
Research ;  yellow,  of  Creation ;  orange,  of  Prog¬ 
ress  ;  and  red,  the  light  of  Poetry. 

In  some  representations  a  glory  of  angels  sur¬ 
rounds  Christ,  the  Virgin  or  the  Trinity.  The 
Seraphim  and  Cherubim  are  symbolized  by 
heads  with  one  to  three  pairs  of  wings  and 
painted  blue  or  red.  According  to  Clement, 
“the  Seraph,  whose  name  symbolizes  ‘to  love’ 
should  be  red,  and  the  Cherub,  whose  name  sig¬ 
nifies  ‘to  know’  should  be  blue.”  'White  is 
usually  the  prevailing  color  of  angels  ’  robes. 

Some  artists  and  writers  have  noted  that  the 
human  countenance  is  a  masterpiece  of  the 
natural  expression  of  colors.  As  indicated  in 
the  preceding,  redness  accompanies  anger  and 
the  ardent  passions,  the  blush  signifies  bashful¬ 
ness  or  shame,  yellowness  is  the  result  of  ill¬ 
ness,  grief,  and  envy,  and  blueness  is  due  to 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  139 


fear,  terror,  hate,  agony,  and  death.  Whether 
or  not  scientific  investigation  will  support  all  of 
the  foregoing,  these  ideas  are  prevalent  and 
have  been  woven  into  mythology,  art,  and  lit¬ 
erature  for  many  centuries. 


PART  III 


NOMENCLATURE 


AMONG  the  various  phases  of  the  science  of 
color  the  most  discouraging  chaos  is  found 
in  the  state  of  color  terminology.  Even  among 
the  various  sciences  interested  in  color,  such  as 
physics,  physiology  and  psychology,  the  terms 
which  are  used  for  different  color  qualities  are 
far  from  being  standardized  and  universally 
definite.  Upon  turning  to  the  vocabularies  of 
artists  and  laymen  the  terminology  is  found  to 
be  so  indefinite  and  misapplied  as  to  leave  one 
bewildered  and  quite  incapable  of  determining 
the  exact  meaning  of  many  of  the  terms  which 
are  used.  This  state  of  affairs  is  the  more  dis¬ 
appointing  because  the  various  color  quantities 
or  qualities  are  well  established  and  readily  de¬ 
fined  scientifically.  Furthermore,  the  science  of 
color  cannot  boast  even  of  a  rudimentary 
scheme  of  notation.  To  make  the  meaning 
clear  let  us  consider  music.  The  nomenclature 
of  sounds  is  very  definite,  well  established,  and 
almost  universally  accepted.  In  order  to  con¬ 
nect  and  to  harmonize  tones  into  music,  a 
system  of  notation — the  musical  scale — was 
adopted,  thus  making  printed  music  a  universal 

143 


144  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


language  at  least  among  the  more  highly  civ¬ 
ilized  peoples.  This  standardization  has  not 
reached  all  parts  of  the  earth,  but  has  spread 
and  taken  root  in  a  remarkable  manner  when 
compared  in  this  respect  to  the  nomenclature 
of  color.  Of  course  it  took  many  centuries  for 
the  terms  of  the  science  of  tones  and  of  the  art 
of  music  to  reach  their  present  highly  standard¬ 
ized  and  readily  interpretable  state,  but  colors 
have  been  used  for  centuries  without  more  than 
a  rudimentary  beginning  of  a  standardization  of 
the  nomenclature. 

It  appears  not  only  profitable  but  necessary 
to  insert  at  this  point  a  brief  discussion  of 
color  and  of  color  terminology  not  only  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  the  reader  in  understand¬ 
ing  clearly  other  chapters  but  to  spread  the 
propaganda  of  standardization.  The  termin¬ 
ology  considered  here  will  be  that  which  has 
been  acceptable  to  the  physicist  for  many  years. 
This  appears  justifiable  because  the  terms  seem 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  other  scientists  as 
well  as  artists  and,  furthermore,  the  physics  of 
color  is  in  a  higher  state  of  development  than 
other  aspects  of  the  subject. 

Before  discussing  terminology,  the  funda¬ 
mentals  of  color  will  be  treated  briefly.  Light 
rays  can  be  decomposed  by  a  prism  or  by  a  dif- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  145 


fraction  grating  into  colored  rays.  Investiga¬ 
tion  has  revealed  the  fact  that  the  radiation 
from  a  light-source,  such  as  the  sun,  consists  of 
disturbances  of  various  wave-lengths  (in  a 
hypothetical  medium  called  the  ether)  some  of 
which,  when  impinging  upon  the  retina  of  the 
eye,  are  capable  of  arousing  the  sensation  of 
color,  depending  upon  the  wave-length  or  fre¬ 
quency  of  the  vibration.  The  rays  of  shortest 
wave-length  (highest  frequencies)  which  are 
visible  produce  the  sensation  of  violet  and  the 
longest  visible  wave-lengths  (lowest  frequen¬ 
cies)  produce  the  sensation  of  red.  Intermedi¬ 
ate  wave-lengths,  from  the  shorter  to  the  longer, 
produce  respectively  the  sensations  of  blue, 
green,  yellow  and  orange.  It  will  be  recognized 
that  the  spectrum  has  been  described  and  that 
these  colors  are  known  as  the  spectral  colors. 

Under  favorable  conditions  the  rainbow  is 
produced  in  Nature,  which  in  reality  is  the  spec¬ 
trum  of  sunlight.  Although  many  different 
hues  are  visible  in  the  spectrum  besides  those 
represented  by  the  foregoing  simple  color- 
names,  a  large  class  of  colors,  namely,  the  pur¬ 
ples,  has  not  been  mentioned.  These  do  not 
exist  in  the  spectrum  but  are  the  result  of  the 
synthesis  of  the  violet  or  blue  and  red  sensa¬ 
tions. 


146  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


This  brings  us  to  the  matter  of  color-vision 
which  will  be  touched  upon  briefly  here  but  more 
elaborately  in  the  chapter  on  the  Psycho-physi¬ 
ology  of  Color.  The  eye  is  not  an  analytical  in¬ 
strument  but  a  synthetical  one.  In  other  words, 
a  given  sensation  of  light  or  of  color  is  the  in¬ 
tegral  effect  of  radiation  of  many  wave-lengths 
except  in  the  case  of  pure  spectral  colors.  For 
example,  white  light  is  the  integral  effect  of  all 
visible  wave-lengths  in  daylight  or,  in  special 
cases,  is  the  combined  effect  of  complementary 
wave-lengths.  Another  example  is  the  sensa¬ 
tion  of  yellow  which  can  be  caused  in  three 
w'ays :  first,  by  a  certain  wave-length  in  the  spec¬ 
trum;  second,  by  a  mixture  of  green  and  red 
lights  of  proper  intensities;  and  third,  by  the 
integral  effects  of  various  wave-lengths  such  as 
are  commonly  reflected  by  yellow  pigments,  in 
which  cases  the  wave-lengths  exciting  the  sen¬ 
sation  of  yellow  predominate.  These  three 
ways  of  producing  the  sensation  of  yellow  are 
only  general  classifications  because  there  are 
many  combinations  of  wave-lengths  in  the  last 
two  whose  integral  effects  result  in  arousing  the 
sensation  of  yellow. 

It  is  also  well  known  that  proper  mixtures  of 
red,  green,  and  blue  lights,  when  acting  simul¬ 
taneously  upon  the  retina,  will  produce  a  color- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  147 


less  sensation  or  white.  Many  such  examples 
could  be  presented  but  these  are  sufficient  at 
present  to  show  that  the  sensations  of  color, 
even  of  simple  colors,  are  complex  when  con¬ 
sidered  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  stimuli. 

It  is  well  to  bring  to  attention  the  difference 
between  spectral  colors  and  the  colored  lights 
and  pigments  ordinarily  encountered.  Spec¬ 
tral  colors  are  produced  by  radiation  of  single 
wave-lengths,  or  nearly  so.  This  is  never  true 
of  the  colors  of  pigments  or  of  colored  lights 
ordinarily  available.  Pigments  generally  re¬ 
flect  rays  of  many  wave-lengths  and  colored 
lights  usually  consist  of  rays  of  many  wave¬ 
lengths. 

Two  distinct  kinds  of  color  terminology  are 
necessary  to  meet  all  requirements.  The 
science  of  color  requires  a  terminology  and  no¬ 
tation  based  upon  the  spectral  characteristics 
of  colors  because  spectrum  analysis  is  of  funda¬ 
mental  importance.  However,  from  the  view¬ 
point  of  this  book  we  are  concerned  chiefly  with 
what  the  eye  sees,  so  that  the  actual  spectral 
characteristics  will  not  be  considered  here. 

Turning  then  to  colors  as  the  eye  sees  them, 
hue  is  the  first  important  color  quality.  Ordi¬ 
nary  colors,  with  the  exception  of  purple  (which 
includes  pink,  rose  and  allied  colors),  have  a 


148  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


dominant  hue  which  corresponds  to  a  spectral 
color.  Hue  is,  therefore,  that  quality  of  a  color 
which  is  correlated  on  the  physical  side  with 
wave-length  or  frequency  of  light  waves.  In 
the  case  of  purple,  which  has  no  match  in  the 
spectrum,  the  hue  of  its  complementary  can  be 
associated  with  it  in  scientific  data. 

After  matching  the  given  color  with  its  cor¬ 
responding  spectral  hue  and  equating  the  two 
in  brightness,  it  is  seen  that  the  two  colors  do 
not  generally  appear  alike.  They  now  differ 
in  saturation  or  purity  and  by  mixing  a  proper 
amount  of  white  light  with  the  spectral  color  an 
apparent  match  can  be  obtained.  Most  pig¬ 
ments  reflect  a  sufficient  range  of  wave-lengths 
on  either  side  of  the  maximum  so  that  the  color 
is  diluted  with  a  certain  amount  of  white  light. 
This  is  also  generally  true  of  transparent  col¬ 
ored  media  or  of  colored  lights.  The  fraction 
of  white  light,  which  has  been  added  to  the 
spectral  hue  to  produce  a  match  with  the  color 
being  analyzed,  when  subtracted  from  unity 
gives  a  measure  of  the  purity  of  this  color. 
Thus  the  saturation  or  purity  of  a  color  is  de¬ 
pendent  upon  the  amount  of  white  light  associ¬ 
ated  with  it.  A  spectral  color  is  of  one  hun¬ 
dred  per  cent,  purity  on  this  basis  and  white 
represents  the  other  extreme  or  zero  per  cent. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  149 


purity  as  a  color.  In  analyzing  a  purple  by  this 
method  a  spectral  color  is  mixed  with  the  pur¬ 
ple  to  make  white  and  the  remaining  procedure 
is  obvious. 

The  third  quality  of  a  color  as  considered 
from  the  standpoint  of  what  the  eye  sees  is 
brightness.  For  purposes  of  analysis  this  fac¬ 
tor  can  be  measured  in  relative  or  in  absolute 
units  depending  upon  the  requirements.  Thus, 
it  is  seen  that  the  three  qualities  of  a  color  are 
hue,  saturation  or  purity,  and  brightness. 

Only  two  other  terms  are  necessary  to  com¬ 
plete  a  simple  color  terminology  of  considera¬ 
ble  effectiveness  and  descriptive  power.  If  a 
spectral  hue  or  a  pigment  be  diluted  with  white 
it  becomes  less  saturated  or  of  lower  purity  and 
is  called  a  tint.  For  example,  the  light  from  a 
candle  flame  is  a  tint  of  yellow,  that  is,  a  yel¬ 
low  of  low  purity  or  saturation;  a  pink  is  an 
unsaturated  purple ;  and  the  blue  sky  is  a  tint  of 
blue.  In  other  words,  tints  of  a  certain  hue  are 
produced  by  varying  the  saturation. 

Shades  are  produced  by  reducing  the  bright¬ 
ness  of  a  color.  This  can  be  accomplished  in 
two  ways :  first,  by  decreasing  the  illumination 
of  a  color  it  becomes  a  darker  shade ;  second,  by 
mixing  a  “perfectly  black”  pigment  with  a 
given  color,  a  shade  of  the  latter  is  produced. 


150  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


Thus  with  the  terms,  hue,  saturation,  brightness, 
tint,  and  shade,  a  terminology  of  very  extensive 
application  is  available.  Many  of  the  indefinite 
or  not  widely  used  terms  can  be  discarded  with¬ 
out  sacrificing  anything  but  an  undesirable  con¬ 
fusion.  Doubtless  certain  general  terms  now 
used  in  the  vocabularies  of  the  artist  can  be  re¬ 
tained  to  advantage  but  most  of  the  require¬ 
ments  of  color  terminology  are  well  met  by  the 
five  foregoing  terms.  At  least  descriptions  of 
color  should  be  confined  as  closely  as  possible  to 
the  five  terms  or  similar  ones.  It  appears  that 
these  are  worthy  of  adoption  because  they 
emanate  from  the  most  firmly  founded  branch 
of  color. 

Other  methods  of  analyzing  color  are  avail¬ 
able,  notably  the  method  which  matches  a  given 
color  by  mixing  proper  proportions  of  red, 
green  and  blue  lights.  This  method  is  based 
upon  an  experimental  fact  of  color-mixture  but 
is  less  desirable  as  a  basis  for  the  terminology 
of  color  because  the  results  cannot  be  readily 
visualized  in  terms  of  the  appearance  of  a  color. 
The  method  of  analysis  which  yields  results  in 
terms  of  hue,  saturation,  and  brightness  is  more 
promising  because  the  data  are  more  easily 
visualized  in  terms  of  what  the  eye  actually  sees 
on  viewing  the  colors. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  151 


Regarding  the  notation  of  color  there  is  little 
to  discuss  beyond  stating  that  there  is  no  scien¬ 
tifically  founded  notation  available  at  present 
although  commendable  schemes  have  been  pro¬ 
posed.  The  one  which  best  fits  into  the  termin¬ 
ology  favored  by  the  author  makes  use  of  the 
measurements  of  hue,  saturation  and  brightness. 
This  scheme  of  notation  which  has  been  advo¬ 
cated  by  various  persons  interested  in  color, 
notably  Munsell,  would  perhaps  require  that  the 
saturation  and  brightness  scales  be  divided  em¬ 
pirically  but  referred  to  certain  standards. 
For  instance  R®,  would  represent  a  red  color 
whose  brightness  is  6  and  whose  saturation  is 
7,  both  these  numbers  being  stations  on  em¬ 
pirical  scales.  Perhaps  ten  stations  on  each 
scale  would  be  sufficient  and  in  this  case  the 
above  notation  would  represent  a  red  color 
whose  brightness  was  0.6  of  the  brightness  of 
a  perfect  white  under  equal  illumination,  the 
brightness  of  the  white  being  considered  as  10 
units.  Relative  brightness  in  this  case  is  suffi¬ 
cient.  The  wave-length  of  the  dominant  hue 
could  be  associated  with,  or  substituted  for,  the 
letter  R,  which  would  indicate  the  dominant  hue 
specifically. 

The  data  so  far  would  be  meaningful.  A 
spectral  color  could  be  represented  by  10  units 


152  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOE 


or  complete  saturation  and  in  the  foregoing 
case  the  color  would  be  0.7  saturated  or  would 
have  0.3  white  mixed  with  it.  Adherence  to  the 
foregoing  terminology  and  notation  would  in¬ 
sure  against  the  present  chaotic  condition.  It 
is  doubtless  too  early  to  expect  the  adoption  of 
such  scientific  notation  because  scientists  must 
first  present  data  in  these  terms,  but  there  ap¬ 
pears  no  reason  for  not  using  the  terminology 
described  above  or  terms  akin  to  these  instead 
of  the  variety  of  indefinite  terms  now  in  use. 

The  number  of  different  color  sensations 
which  we  are  able  to  experience  has  not  been  de¬ 
termined  even  approximately  but  from  various 
modes  of  attack  this  number  can  be  shown  to  be 
as  large  as  several  hundred  thousand.  Cer¬ 
tainly  the  future  cannot  depend  upon  individual 
color-names  for  the  correct  designation  of  these 
colors.  This  emphasizes  the  need  of  a  sys¬ 
tematic  system  of  color  notation. 

Chromatic  sensations  differ  from  achromatic 
sensations  in  that  they  form  a  closed  series. 
That  is,  the  former  may  be  placed  in  a  continu¬ 
ous  series,  as  is  commonly  done,  about  the  cir¬ 
cumference  of  a  circle  or  the  periphery  of  a 
square.  Beginning  with  red,  we  can  pass 
through  the  spectrum  to  the  violet  and  close  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  153 


remaining  gap  with  the  purples  varying  from  a 
violet-purple  to  a  reddish  one.  The  arranging 
of  various  colors  in  certain  relations  upon  geo¬ 
metrical  forms  is  merely  for  convenience  in  vis¬ 
ualizing  the  variations  and  relations  of  colors 
which  are  perceptible  to  the  eye.  Both  plane 
and  solid  geometrical  forms  have  been  used, 
among  them  being  the  square,  circle,  equilateral 
triangle,  pyramid,  cone,  cylinder,  sphere,  etc. 
The  use  of  such  forms  is  highly  commendable  as 
an  aid  in  arranging  colors  in  certain  sequential 
relations  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  press  these  geo¬ 
metrical  dimensions  and  relations  too  far  into 
the  theory  of  color.  Many  ingenious  adapta¬ 
tions  of  solid  geometrical  forms  have  been  made 
for  providing  arrangements  of  the  spectral  col¬ 
ors  and  all  their  tints  and  shades  in  certain 
approximate  relations  which  can  be  visualized 
as  a  whole.  In  order  to  account  for  certain 
physiological  and  psychological  peculiarities  it 
is  necessary  to  modify  these  figures  into  some¬ 
what  irregular  and  asymmetrical  forms. 

Achromatic  sensations  do  not  form  a  closed 
series.  If  we  begin  with  white  and  pass  through 
the  grays  we  finally  reach  black,  but  nothing  re¬ 
mains  with  which  to  fill  the  gap  from  black  to 
white  again  unless  the  series  of  grays  be  re- 


154  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


peated  in  reversed  order.  This  difference  is 
significant  in  dealing  with  colors  in  many  of 
their  uses  as  touched  upon  in  this  treatise. 

We  are  able  to  distinguish  fewer  spectral  hues 
than  achromatic  sensations,  yet  we  have  a  great 
many  more  names  for  the  former.  If  all  the 
tints  and  shades  of  colors  be  included  with  the 
perceptibly  different  hues  the  number  of  chro¬ 
matic  sensations  that  can  be  experienced  is 
greatly  increased.  As  previously  stated,  the 
exact  number  has  not  been  determined  experi¬ 
mentally  but  it  is  possible  to  compute  approxi¬ 
mate  values  which  mount  as  high  as  several 
hundred  thousand. 

Between  white  and  black  it  is  contended  that 
we  can  experience  more  than  six  hundred  differ¬ 
ent  sensations.  Psychologists  do  not  agree  as 
to  whether  or  not  the  colorless  sensations  differ 
in  quality  as  well  as  in  intensity.  Wundt  be¬ 
lieves  they  differ  only  in  intensity  but  some 
psychologists,  notably  Titchener,  contend  that 
they  differ  also  in  quality.  The  latter  contend 
that  a  gray  can  differ  from  another  in  two  im¬ 
portant  characteristics;  it  may  be  lighter  (or 
darker)  and  it  may  also  be  brighter  (or 
duller) .  It  is  possible  that  the  latter  character¬ 
istic  can  be  considered  merely  a  physical  one 
possessed  by  the  object  and  consequently  there 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  155 


is  some  question  as  to  the  acceptibility  of  this 
characteristic  as  a  quality  of  sensation.  Color 
(in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  term)  is  accom¬ 
panied  by  emotions  and  by  strong  sentiments  to 
a  much  greater  extent  than  neutral  grays  (mere 
brightness)  but  both  have  their  functions  in  the 
language  of  color.  It  is  simpler  to  discuss  each 
separately  and  this  procedure  is  therefore  ad¬ 
hered  to  whenever  it  is  possible. 

In  the  foregoing,  the  discussion  has  been  con¬ 
fined  largely  to  the  science  of  color  nomencla¬ 
ture  for  the  purpose  of  defining  the  terms  upon 
a  rigid  foundation.  Pertinent  data  concerning 
color-names  and  their  evolution  are  found  in 
the  chapter  on  Primitive  Language.  It  is  well 
to  consider  that  chapter  as  an  introduction  to 
the  present  one.  In  reflecting  upon  our  color 
notation  it  is  interesting  to  select  from  the  great 
mass  of  words,  which  are  used  to  describe  or  to 
designate  colors,  those  words  which  are  abstract 
color-names  and  to  select  from  these  the  names 
which  apply  directly  to  the  spectral  colors.  If, 
in  connection  with  this  study,  observations  will 
be  made  on  the  ability  of  the  average  person  to 
describe  colors,  it  will  be  concluded  that  many 
of  the  difficulties  or  characteristics  of  primitive 
language  persist  in  recognizable  form  in  our 
present  highly  developed  languages. 


PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGY  OF  COLOR 


LIGHT  rays  which  enter  the  eye  stimulate 
the  physiological  processes  of  vision 
which  result  in  the  sensations  of  brightness  and 
color.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  vision  involves  the 
physical  stimuli,  the  physiological  processes, 
and  the  psychological  sensations.  It  is  impos¬ 
sible  to  separate  completely  the  physiological 
and  psychological  elements;  hence  this  discus¬ 
sion  is  presented  under  the  combined  term,  psy¬ 
cho-physiology.  Visual  experiences  touch  the 
whole  personality  and,  therefore,  the  physiolog¬ 
ical  and  psychological  results  of  color  are  more 
complex  than  is  indicated  by  the  foregoing 
simple  description  of  the  visual  process.  The 
effects  of  visual  stimuli  can  be  observed  upon 
the  blood  pressure,  upon  muscular,  mental,  and 
nervous  activity,  upon  the  mood  and  in  various 
other  ways.  There  is  a  vast  amount  of  data 
available  upon  the  physiology  and  psychology 
of  color-vision  but  relatively  little  concerning 
the  effects  of  color  sensations  upon  the  human 
organism.  The  latter  data  are  of  chief  interest 
to  us  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  language  of 
color,  however,  various  color  phenomena  will  be 

156 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  157 


discussed  here  because  of  the  complex  texture 
of  the  subject  of  this  book. 

Numerous  hypotheses  of  color-vision  have 
been  proposed,  some  differing  entirely  in  princi¬ 
ple  while  others  are  closely  related  to  each  other. 
An  extensive  discussion  of  this  aspect  of  color 
is  not  contemplated  because  space  does  not  per¬ 
mit  and  because  it  would  be  out  of  place  here. 
However,  it  appears  profitable  to  discuss  this 
subject  by  comparing  the  two  hypotheses  which 
have  the  greatest  number  of  adherents  and 
which  have  been  studied  and  discussed  exten¬ 
sively.  In  treating  these  two  theories — for  in 
many  aspects  they  have  evolved  from  the 
“hypothesis”  stage — we  are  not  especially  con¬ 
cerned  with  the  physiological  processes  in¬ 
volved  but  with  the  main  characteristics  which 
aid  in  clearing  the  view  for  a  better  understand¬ 
ing  of  the  possibilities  of  the  application  of 
color. 

Many  years  ago,  Young  constructed  the  three- 
color  theory  largely  from  the  facts  of  color- 
mixture.  It  has  already  been  noted  that  any 
color  can  be  matched  in  hue  and  in  brightness  by 
a  proper  mixture  of  the  three  primary  colors, 
namely,  red,  green,  and  blue.  Young  assumed 
three  sets  of  nerves  or  processes  to  exist  in  the 
visual  apparatus  and  all  color-sensations  to  be 


158  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


due  to  the  integral  result  of  the  stimulation  of 
these  three  primary  sensations,  namely,  red, 
green,  and  blue.  Later,  the  great  work  of 
Helmholtz  supplied  this  three-color  theory  with 
a  more  extensive  experimental  foundation. 
Many  data  of  interest  from  the  viewpoints  of 
the  theory  and  practice  of  color  have  been  sup¬ 
plied  by  such  investigators  in  the  field  of  vision 
but  there  are  still  many  questions  unanswered. 
One  of  the  most  vulnerable  points  of  the  three- 
color  theory  of  vision  has  been  the  lack  of  ana¬ 
tomical  evidence  regarding  the  three  hypothet¬ 
ical  sets  of  nerves  or  physiological  processes. 

Hering,  who  has  been  the  most  conspicuous 
and  arduous  antagonist  of  the  foregoing  theory, 
constructed  an  hypothesis  of  color-vision  based 
largely  upon  the  simple  psychological  facts  of 
the  appearance  of  colors,  especially  of  the  spec¬ 
trum.  From  the  simplicity  of  the  appearance 
of  white  and  black,  red  and  green,  yellow  and 
blue,  he  concluded  that  these  represented  the 
primary  sensations  whose  integral  effects  in 
any  case  were  responsible  for  a  given  color- 
sensation.  It  was  necessary  for  him  to  assume 
the  existence  of  three  chemical  processes  each 
of  which  was  responsible  for  two  sensations 
paired  in  the  preceding  statement.  The  build¬ 
ing-up  of  one  of  the  substances  was  assumed  to 


THE  LANGUAGE  OP  COLOR  159 


be  responsible  for  one  of  the  sensations  of  a 
given  pair  and  the  breaking-down  of  the  sub¬ 
stance  was  responsible  for  the  other  sensation. 
Unfortunately  here  again  anatomical  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  the  three  assumed  processes 
is  lacking. 

There  is  much  in  favor  of  the  Hering  theory 
especially  to  those  who  have  an  intimate  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  the  appearance  of  colors.  If 
the  spectrum  is  studied,  red  appears  to  be  un¬ 
diluted  with  any  other  color,  that  is,  no  sug¬ 
gestion  of  another  color  is  associated  with  it. 
This  is  considered  by  a  great  many  persons  not 
to  be  true  of  orange  or  of  any  of  the  “tran¬ 
sitional”  spectral  colors  between  red  and  yel¬ 
low,  however,  the  latter  appears  to  many  per¬ 
sons  to  be  a  simple  color  unmixed  with  any  other 
color.  In  progressing  from  the  yellow  toward 
the  short-wave  end  of  the  spectrum  no  simple 
colors  appear  until  we  reach  a  certain  green 
which  appears  to  be  a  color  in  which  no  other 
color  is  suggested.  Continuing  through  the 
spectrum  we  meet  with  another  color  which  is 
simple  in  appearance,  namely  blue.  White  and 
black  are  also  considered  simple  colors  and  thus 
the  six  simple  sensations  appear  to  be  red,  yel¬ 
low,  green,  blue,  white  and  black.  This  argu¬ 
ment  has  much  in  its  favor  as  a  basis  upon  which 


160  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


to  found  an  hypothesis  of  color-vision.  One  of 
the  most  encouraging  features  of  the  Hering 
theory  is  the  possibility  that  it  may  separate  the 
brightness  and  hue  phenomena  completely  and 
thus  simplify  many  of  the  unanswered  questions 
concerning  vision.  In  fairness  it  should  be 
noted  that  some  investigators  claim  all  colors 
are  simple  in  appearance. 

The  phenomena  of  contrast  has  been  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  battle-grounds  of  the  ad¬ 
herents  of  these  two  chief  theories.  This  point 
is  of  special  interest  to  us  owing  to  the  great  in¬ 
fluence  of  contrast — both  in  hue  and  in  bright¬ 
ness — upon  the  appearance  of  colors  and  there¬ 
fore  upon  their  appeal  to  us.  It  is  difficult  to 
pass  on  without  discussing  many  of  the  inter¬ 
esting  phenomena  of  vision  which  have  been  dis¬ 
covered  and  investigated  by  adherents  to  these 
theories  and  without  presenting  some  of  the 
main  features  of  other  hypotheses  worthy 
of  consideration.  However,  such  discussions 
would  lead  far  afield  without  adding  much  of 
value  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  language  of 
color.  Suffice  it  to  state  that  Young  and  Helm¬ 
holtz  who  builded  their  hypothesis  largely  upon 
a  foundation  consisting  of  the  facts  of  color- 
mixture,  might  be  criticized  for  not  giving  the 
psychological  aspect  more  prominence.  Hering 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  161 


has  injected  into  color-vision  theory  the  very 
interesting  elements  of  sensation  with  greater 
prominence  than  his  predecessors.  Both  theo¬ 
ries  contain  much  to  be  commended  and  it  will 
not  be  surprising  if  future  investigation  shows 
each  to  be  partially  correct. 

We  are  not  concerned  here  primarily  so  much 
with  the  physiological  and  psychological  phe¬ 
nomena  which  actually  play  a  part  in  color- 
vision  as  with  the  general  physiological  and 
psychological  effects  resulting  from  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  color.  As  already  stated  these  latter 
data  are  not  plentiful  for  these  fields  of  the 
science  of  color  have  not  been  explored  to  any 
appreciable  extent.  Fere  studied  the  effect  of 
colored  light  upon  muscular  activity  which  ef¬ 
fect  was  measured  dynometrically.  In  ordi¬ 
nary  light  this  muscular  activity  was  found  to 
be  23  units  on  an  empirical  scale.  It  increased 
to  24  units  for  blue  light;  to  28  for  green  light; 
to  30  for  yellow  light;  and  to  35  and  42  units, 
respectively,  for  orange  and  red  light.  Thus  is 
seen  more  evidence  of  the  stimulating  effect  of 
the  “warmer”  colors. 

Pressey,  who  has  studied  the  effects  of  red, 
green,  yellow,  blue  and  white  light  of  equal  in¬ 
tensities,  found  that,  after  subjecting  a  person 
to  a  given  color  for  five  minutes,  he  could  de- 


162  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


tect  differences  in  the  effects  of  the  various  col¬ 
ors  upon  tapping  activity,  memory,  mental 
work,  etc.  He  found  subjects  with  pronounced 
intolerance  for  a  particular  color.  The  mental 
processes  of  one  subject  might  take  20  per  cent, 
more  time  under  the  influence  of  one  color  or  the 
memory  work  of  another  might  show  marked 
improvement  under  a  certain  colored  light. 
Tapping  activity  was  more  uniform  with  green 
light,  slower  with  blue  light  and  decidedly 
quicker  under  red  light.  Arithmetical  work 
was  strongly  improved  under  red  light  and  in 
a  less  marked  way  by  an  increase  in  brightness. 
Pressey’s  work  is  encouraging  from  the  view¬ 
point  of  the  possibility  of  obtaining  experi¬ 
mental  data  regarding  the  physiological  and 
psychological  influences  of  colors,  for  he  finds 
constant  differences  indicated  by  the  averages 
of  the  results  from  many  subjects.  Further¬ 
more,  it  is  well  to  note  a  characteristic  result  of 
his  investigations,  which  is  of  great  importance 
in  the  language  of  color,  namely,  the  independ¬ 
ence  of  such  objective  results  from  the  sub¬ 
jective  feelings.  In  other  words,  the  colored 
lights  which  are  experienced  as  pleasant  do  not 
necessarily  produce  more  favorable  conditions 
for  working  efficiency  than  those  which  are  felt 
as  unpleasant.  Although  this  complicates  our 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  163 


problem  by  limiting  predictions  or  conclusions, 
it  appears  to  indicate  a  very  definite  and  power¬ 
ful  influence  of  color  upon  the  human  organism. 
It  is  only  natural  to  expect  that,  other  conditions 
being  equal,  many  activities  would  be  favored 
by  a  “pleasant”  color  and  hindered  by  an  “un¬ 
pleasant  ’  ’  one.  This  being  contrary  to  the  fore¬ 
going  results  it  follows  that  the  power  of  colors 
is  by  no  means  feeble  in  their  influences  upon 
the  physical  and  mental  activities. 

In  judging  the  appeal  or  affective  value  of 
color  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  there  are 
many  pitfalls.  For  example,  a  colored  light  is 
likely  to  be  judged  according  to  the  appearances 
of  the  familiar  objects  which  it  illuminates, 
whereas  an  object  of  this  color  is  not  always 
judged  in  the  same  manner  because  its  color  is 
not  illuminating  other  objects  either  agreeably 
or  disagreeably.  For  example,  let  us  illuminate 
an  entire  scene  with  green  light.  It  now  has  the 
appearance  of  a  monochrome  which  in  itself 
might  be  pleasing  but  suppose  a  human  face  ap¬ 
peared  under  this  green  light.  The  face  would 
appear  ghastly  and  under  many  circumstances 
the  green  light  would  be  condemned.  Remove 
the  object  which  provoked  this  judgment  against 
the  green  light  and  the  aversion  to  green  would 
perhaps  disappear.  It  would  be  an  endless  task 


164  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


to  cite  examples  which  would  exemplify  all  the 
conditions  under  which  color  is  viewed  and 
judged,  therefore  it  is  most  practicable  to  make 
a  plea  for  keen  analyses  of  conditions  before  a 
judgment  is  reached.  The  mental  notes  gleaned 
from  the  careful  analyses  should  accompany  any 
judgments  of  the  effects  of  colors  if  progress  is 
to  be  made. 

It  is  quite  helpful  in  any  application  of  color 
to  be  acquainted  with  the  chief  phenomena  of 
color  and,  therefore,  a  few  of  these  will  be  de¬ 
scribed  briefly.  After  a  color  has  been  viewed 
for  some  time  and  then  is  suddenly  replaced  by 
a  neutral  gray  an  outline  of  the  original  color 
is  seen  on  the  gray  ground,  but  of  a  hue  approx¬ 
imately  complementary  to  the  original.  This 
phenomenon  is  called  an  after-image  and  is  per¬ 
haps  due  to  fatigue  in  the  visual  process.  For 
example,  if  a  bright  green  object  be  fixated  for  a 
few  seconds  and  the  eyes  be  then  suddenly 
turned  toward  a  neutral  gray  paper,  a  pink 
image  of  the  object  will  be  found  to  persist. 
This  phenomenon  would  be  explained  on  the 
basis  of  the  three-color  theory  of  color-vision  by 
assuming  that  the  “green”  process,  or  set  of 
“nerves,”  was  fatigued  so  that  on  viewing  the 
gray  paper,  which  stimulated  the  three  proc- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  165 


esses,  red,  green,  and  bine,  the  “green”  process 
was  incapable  of  responding  as  fully  as  the 
‘  ‘  red  ’  ’  and  ‘  ‘  blue  ’  ’  processes  with  the  result  that 
there  was  an  excess  of  red  and  blue  sensations 
over  the  green  sensation.  Consequently,  the 
after-image  appeared  to  be  an  unsaturated  pur¬ 
ple  or  pink  in  color.  This  phenomenon  is  quite 
apparent  to  the  careful  observer  under  many 
conditions  encountered  daily. 

It  is  well-known  that  the  various  colored  sen¬ 
sations  do  not  rise  to  their  full  value  at  equal 
rates  nor  do  they  decay  at  equal  rates.  The 
facts  that  they  do  not  rise  to  full  value  or  de¬ 
cay  to  zero  instantly  and  that  their  individual 
rates  differ  are  of  great  interest  in  many  cases. 
These  effects  are  shown  by  swiftly  moving  col¬ 
ored  objects.  For  example,  this  phenomenon 
can  be  demonstrated  by  placing  a  red  square  at 
the  center  of  a  larger  blue-green  square  and 
moving  this  combination  with  a  moderate  mo¬ 
tion  at  an  arm’s  length  under  a  fairly  dim  light, 
keeping  the  eyes  fixated  at  a  point  near  the 
middle  of  the  path.  The  red  square  appears  to 
shake  like  jelly  because  its  image  lags  some¬ 
what  behind  its  proper  place  in  the  visual  field. 
This  phenomenon  can  be  readily  demonstrated 
by  moving  the  image  of  a  black  and  white  pat- 


166  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


tern  over  the  retina  at  a  certain  speed.  Fech- 
ner’s  disks  strikingly  demonstrate  this  interest¬ 
ing  feature  of  color-vision. 

Experiments  have  shown  that  the  color-sensa¬ 
tions  overshoot  their  final  values  immediately 
after  the  presentation  of  the  color  stimuli. 
Blue  overshoots  the  most,  red  next,  and  of  these 
three,  the  green  sensation  is  the  most  sluggish. 
This  order  also  approximately  represents  the 
relative  rapidity  of  the  growth  and  decay  of 
these  color-sensations,  bine  being  most  rapid 
and  green  the  slowest.  The  fact  that  colors  can 
be  mixed,  as  far  as  sensation  is  concerned,  by 
rotating  them  on  disks  above  a  certain  critical 
frequency  is  ample  proof  that  color-sensations 
do  not  instantly  rise  to  full  value  immediately 
upon  the  presentation  of  the  stimuli  and  do  not 
decay  to  zero  at  the  instant  that  the  stimuli  are 
removed.  The  critical  frequency  at  which  the 
colors  upon  a  rotating  disk  blend  in  the  visual 
process  varies  with  the  hue,  saturation,  and 
brightness  of  the  colors. 

Another  interesting  fact  which  is  connected 
with  the  foregoing  is  that  of  adaptation  of  the 
visual  process  to  color.  In  general  all  sensa¬ 
tions  of  brightness  tend  toward  a  middle  gray 
and  those  of  color  tend  toward  neutrality.  For 
example,  if  one  works  under  red  light  for  some 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  167 


time  the  saturation  of  the  color  seems  to  de¬ 
crease  and  he  becomes  less  conscious  of  the 
color.  In  a  similar  manner,  colors  of  very  high 
brightness  appear  to  be  less  saturated  than  un¬ 
der  a  moderately  low  illumination.  In  accord¬ 
ance  with  this  fact  the  artist  paints  a  red  object, 
illuminated  by  intense  sunlight,  orange  or 
orange-red  in  color. 

The  greatest  phenomenon  which  overshadows 
all  others  in  importance  in  our  everyday  en¬ 
counters  with  colors  is  that  of  contrast,  for  its 
omnipresence  is  responsible  for  most  of  our  en¬ 
joyment  of  color.  For  the  sake  of  analysis,  it 
can  be  separated  into  hue  and  brightness  con¬ 
trasts.  Little  was  known  about  the  practical 
importance  of  these  phenomena  until  the  elab¬ 
orate  experiments  and  observations  of  Chev- 
reul,  the  color  expert  of  the  famous  Gobelins, 
nearly  a  century  ago.  Since  that  time  these 
aspects  of  color  have  been  given  a  great  deal 
of  attention  by  scientists  and  several  laws  have 
been  established. 

The  contrast-effect  is  always  in  the  direction 
of  greatest  opposition.  For  example,  white 
and  black,  when  juxtaposed,  mutually  influence 
each  other  so  that  the  white  appears  brighter 
and  the  black  appears  darker.  If  red  and  green 
are  juxtaposed,  the  red  appears  redder  than 


168  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


when  viewed  amid  neutral  surroundings  of  ap¬ 
proximately  the  same  brightness  and  similarly 
the  green  appears  greener.  If  a  gray  patch  is 
surrounded  by  a  certain  color,  the  smaller  gray 
patch  no  longer  appears  uncolored  hut  assumes 
a  tint  usually  approximately  complementary  to 
the  surrounding  color.  This  is  called  an  in¬ 
duced  color.  For  example,  if  the  surrounding 
color  be  green,  the  induced  color  of  the  central 
gray  patch  is  pink.  This  induced  color  is  most 
striking  when  the  inducing  color  is  highly  sat¬ 
urated  and  when  the  gray  is  of  a  brightness 
about  equal  to  that  of  the  inducing  color.  This 
reduces  the  effect  of  brightness  contrast  to  a 
minimum  otherwise  the  brightness  contrast  may 
play  a  conspicuous  part  and,  in  some  cases,  may 
tend  to  veil  the  effect  of  induced  color. 

The  contrast-effects  are  a  function  of  the 
nearness  of  the  different  colors  to  each  other; 
that  is,  the  nearer  together  the  greater  is  the 
contrast-effect.  If  the  colors  are  juxtaposed 
without  any  dividing  line  of  black  or  other  color 
the  mutual  effect  of  the  two  colors  is  greatest. 

Hue  contrast  is  most  evident  when  the  satura¬ 
tions  of  the  colors  are  greatest.  It  has  been 
contended  by  some  observers  that  the  cold  col¬ 
ors,  namely,  those  near  the  blue  end  of  the  spec¬ 
trum,  produce  stronger  contrast-effects  than 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  169 


the  warmer  colors.  The  author  is  not  convinced 
that  this  is  true.  It  is  difficult  to  assign  a  su¬ 
periority  to  any  particular  part  of  the  spectrum 
because  of  the  great  difficulty  in  controlling  the 
different  variables  in  actual  experiment  in  order 
to  reach  definite  conclusions.  It  would  not  he 
surprising  to  find  the  warmer  colors  more  ef¬ 
fective  than  blue  in  producing  strong  contrasts 
because,  as  a  general  rule  among  the  colors  or¬ 
dinarily  encountered,  the  reds  and  yellows  are 
more  saturated  than  the  blues. 

In  this  chapter  the  chief  phenomena  of  color 
have  been  briefly  discussed.  These  and  many 
combinations  of  them  are  of  extreme  importance 
in  the  use  and  observation  of  color.  It  has  been 
seen  that  there  are  many  elements  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  from  the  various  viewpoints  of  physics, 
physiology,  and  psychology.  The  physical  as¬ 
pects  are  associated  with  the  production  of 
color;  the  other  aspects  are  found  in  vision  and 
in  the  accompanying  effects  of  color  upon  the 
human  organism.  A  visual  impression  is  “the 
starting-point  for  a  whole  hierarchy  of  mental 
reactions”  and  its  importance  is  further  em¬ 
phasized  by  Miinsterberg  who  states  that  “each 
time  our  perceptions  and  apperceptions,  our 
feelings  and  our  attention,  our  imagination  and 
our  will  are  involved.” 


170  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


In  attempting  to  analyze  the  effect  or  impres¬ 
sion  of  color  on  the  human  organism,  many  fac¬ 
tors  must  be  considered.  In  fact,  this  is  a  prob¬ 
lem  for  the  trained  psychologist.  However, 
there  is  no  reason  why  any  person,  with  a  mod¬ 
erate  understanding  of  coW  and  an  ability  to 
analyze,  cannot  add  considerable  to  his  own 
knowledge  of  the  psychological  effects  of  color 
if  he  exercises  careful  and  analytical  observa¬ 
tion. 

Space  will  not  permit  an  extensive  discussion 
of  the  psychological  aspects  involved,  however, 
it  appears  essential  to  note  two  general  posi¬ 
tions  which  color  occupies  with  respect  to  con¬ 
sciousness.  In  one  case  it  occupies  the  focus 
of  attention  and  in  the  other  case  it  does  not 
although  it  still  is  influential.  For  example,  a 
color  arrangement  may  be  so  closely  studied  and 
the  thoughts  be  so  given  over  to  the  considera¬ 
tion  of  color  that  the  surroundings,  especially  if 
they  are  not  unusual  as  to  color,  will  be  quite 
lacking  in  an  appreciable  influence  upon  the 
mind.  However,  in  another  case  the  environ¬ 
ment  may  be  of  such  a  nature  that  one  is  pleas¬ 
antly  or  unpleasantly  conscious  of  it,  especially 
if  the  object  upon  which  the  attention  is  fo¬ 
cussed  is  not  impelling  enough  to  suppress  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOB,  171 


influence  of  the  environment.  The  so-called 
sub-conscious  element  must  always  be  consid¬ 
ered  from  the  viewpoint  of  analysis,  as  a  more 
or  less  dormant  power  capable  at  any  time  of  in¬ 
jecting  into  the  situation  unexpected  influences 
which  modify  the  judgment.  For  example,  the 
warm  colors  are  predominantly  stimulating  but 
they  may  be  either  agreeable  or  disagreeable. 
The  cold  colors  are  predominantly  restful  but 
they  may  be  either  agreeable  or  disagreeable. 
Association,  appropriateness,  etc.,  determine 
their  agreeableness,  but  these  generally  operate 
through  the  sub-consciousness. 

Few  persons  are  familiar  with  the  meanings 
of  various  terms  that  must  be  used  in  analyzing 
and  in  discussing  the  psychological  effects  of 
color  so  that  it  may  be  profitable  to  present  a 
few  of  these  as  defined  by  various  psychologists. 

Sensation.  A  sensation  is  a  simple  fact  of 
consciousness  which  is  referred  to  some  definite 
sense-organ.  Yerkes  states,  “There  are  three 
ways  of  classifying  sensations  or  of  arranging 
them.  (1)  According  to  their  degree  of  psy¬ 
chological  likeness.  (2)  According  to  the  bod¬ 
ily  organs  (sense-organs)  to  which  they  are  re¬ 
ferred.  (3)  According  to  the  kind  of  stimulus 
which  gives  rise  to  them.  ’  ’  The  first  is  the  most 


172  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


valuable  for  strictly  psychological  purposes  be¬ 
cause  it  takes  account  of  the  psychological  pe¬ 
culiarities  of  the  things  to  be  classified. 

Feeling.  Feelings  are  usually  classified  into 
four  varieties,  namely,  sense-feelings,  emotions, 
sentiments,  and  volitions.  The  qualities  given 
by  various  psychologists  to  the  feelings  are  as 
follows : 


Wundt 

Royce 

Titchener 

Agreeableness 

Pleasantness 

Pleasantness 

Disagreeableness 

Unpleasantness 

Unpleasantness 

Excitement 

Restlessness 

Quiescence 

Tension 

Relaxation 

Quiescence 

The  following  properties  are  given  by  vari¬ 
ous  psychologists  as  common  to  all  sensations. 


Angell 

Baldwin 

Munstebberg  Titchener 

Wundt 

Quality 

Intensity 

Quality 

Intensity 

Quality 

Intensity 

Vividness 

Quality 

Intensity 

Clearness 

Quality 

Intensity 

Value 

Duration 

Extensity 

Duration 

Duration 

Affection.  An  affection  is  a  simple  fact  of 
consciousness  which  pervades  the  whole  body. 
According  to  Yerkes  “We  sense  and  we  feel. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  173 


The  former  variety  of  experiences  yield  ns  our 
thousands  of  qualities  of  sensation  and  the  lat¬ 
ter  a  multitude  of  simple  facts  which  the  psy¬ 
chologist  calls  affections.”  A  prominent  dif¬ 
ference  between  a  sensation  and  an  affection  is 
that  the  former  is  associated  with  a  sense-organ 
and  the  latter  is  referred  to  the  body  as  a  whole. 
Sight,  pain,  and  taste  are  associated  with  the 
sense-organs  but  affections  are  not.  Feelings 
such  as  agreeableness,  quiescence,  and  excite¬ 
ment  exist  as  a  condition  of  the  whole  body. 

Emotion.  Psychologists  describe  emotion  as 
an  affective  complex.  It  is  more  complex  than 
a  sense-feeling.  When  the  cognitive  aspect 
dominates  an  experience  is  said  to  be  an  idea,  or 
a  perception  but  when  the  affective  aspect  is 
predominant  the  same  general  experience  is 
called  a  feeling  or  an  emotion.  Emotions  are 
associated  with  perceptions  or  memory  experi¬ 
ences  and  might  be  considered  strong-feelings. 
The  different  grades  of  emotions  might  be 
termed  mood,  weak  emotion,  strong  emotion, 
and  passion.  Corresponding  to  these  different 
grades  respectively,  we  might  experience  won¬ 
der,  surprise,  astonishment,  amazement ;  or  an¬ 
other  example  might  be  kindliness,  friendliness, 
liking,  love. 

Sentiment.  An  emotion  which  is  attached  to 


174  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


a  particular  object  is  called  a  sentiment.  For 
example,  a  person  may  have  a  sentiment  for 
his  alma  mater.  Sentiments  have  been  vari¬ 
ously  classified  as  ethical,  esthetic,  intellectual 
and  religious  although  opinions  may  differ  re¬ 
garding  this  classification. 

Volition.  According  to  Wundt,  an  emotion 
together  with  its  result  is  a  volitional  process. 
A  person  may  be  astonished  and  forthwith  he 
thinks  or  acts.  The  combination  constitutes  a 
volition. 

Association.  This  is  perhaps  fairly  well  un¬ 
derstood  but  definitions  will  be  incorporated  be¬ 
cause  of  the  great  importance  of  association  in 
the  effects  of  color.  Dunlap  says:  “Associ¬ 
ation  is  the  organization  of  experience  by  virtue 
of  which  the  various  kinds  and  part  of  content 
constitute  a  whole;  it  is  the  functional  intercon¬ 
nection  of  the  objects  of  experience  as  we  find 
them ;  not  a  force  or  an  activity.  The  statement 
of  the  principles  or  laws  of  association  is  by  no 
means  an  explanation  of  anything,  but  simply  a 
convenient  summary  of  observed  facts.”  Ac¬ 
cording  to  Titchener :  “The  law  of  association 
is  that  all  connections  between  sensations  which 
are  set  up  by  the  formation  of  perceptions  and 
ideas  tend  to  persist,  even  when  the  original 
connections  are  no  longer  fulfilled.”  Yerkes 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  175 


says:  “Association  means  that  mental  proc¬ 
esses  are  related  to  one  another  instead  of  being 
isolated  and  relatively  independent.  They  tend 
to  run  together  without  losing  their  identity; 
they  become  associated.” 

Concerning  associations  Thorndyke  says : 
“The  likelihood  that  any  mental  state  or  act 
will  occur  in  response  to  any  situation  is  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  the  frequency,  recency,  intensity,  and 
resulting  satisfaction  of  its  connection  with  that 
situation  or  some  part  of  it  and  with  the  total 
frame  of  mind  in  which  the  situation  is  felt.” 

Psychologists  attempt  to  classify  associations 
but  it  does  not  appear  necessary  here  to  devote 
the  space  required  for  such  a  discussion.  By 
analyzing  his  own  experiences  the  reader  will 
be  able  to  discern  various  types. 

In  presenting  these  definitions  the  author 
does  not  assume  the  burden  of  defending  them 
because  psychologists  are  not  in  complete  agree¬ 
ment  regarding  many  of  these  phases  of  their 
science.  It  is  believed  that  the  definitions  are  suf¬ 
ficiently  clear  and  comprehensive  for  the  pres¬ 
ent  purpose.  Surely  if  the  use  of  these  various 
terms  be  in  accordance  with  the  foregoing  brief 
descriptions  a  long  step  will  have  been  taken 
toward  clearness  of  expression.  It  is  with  this 
hope  that  the  material  has  been  incorporated. 


COLOR  PREFERENCE 


THE  consideration  of  color  preference  must 
be  divided  into  two  parts,  namely,  the 
preference  of  colors  influenced  as  little  as  pos¬ 
sible  by  association,  environment,  and  other 
factors,  and  the  preference  of  colors  as  affected 
by  the  ordinary  environments  of  everyday  life. 
Data  of  the  first  kind  are  obtained  from  experi¬ 
ments  with  colors  amid  neutral  and  uninterest¬ 
ing  surroundings  upon  subjects  especially  in¬ 
structed  to  eliminate  associations  insofar  as  it 
is  possible  and  to  choose  the  colors  for  “color’s 
sake”  alone.  Data  of  the  other  kind  are  ob¬ 
tained  by  merely  observing  the  colors  which  are 
used  under  various  conditions  in  decoration,  in 
dress,  etc.,  and  at  the  same  time  obtaining  other 
information  which  is  obviously  of  consequence. 
Such  data  are  difficult  to  analyze  notwithstand¬ 
ing  the  ease  with  which  they  are  obtained  be¬ 
cause  of  the  many  uncontrolled  factors  which 
are  influential.  However,  it  is  a  fact  revealed 
by  observation  that  the  warmer  tints  and  shades 
are  used  more  generally  than  the  colder  ones 
for  the  decoration  of  large  interior  areas.  It  is 

176 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  177 


quite  possible  that  this  custom  has  arisen  from 
the  desire  to  counteract,  to  some  degree,  the 
coldness  of  daylight. 

Most  interiors  are  considered,  unconsciously 
at  least,  to  afford  protection  to  us  and  doubtless 
the  use  of  warmer  tints  is  a  natural  sequence 
of  the  desire  to  make  the  interior  cheerful.  It 
is  to  be  noted  that,  in  the  natural  expression  of 
refined  taste,  tints  and  shades  are  more  favored 
than  the  purer  colors.  It  is  true  that  pure 
colors  are  used  but  only  sparingly  as  compared 
with  tints  and  shades.  In  a  sense,  the  limited 
use  of  the  purer  colors  can  be  justified  by  con¬ 
sidering  that  their  chief  function  is  one  of  em¬ 
phasis.  Although  not  an  invariable  rule,  it  is 
certain  that  something  of  an  individual’s  nature 
or  degree  of  refinement  can  be  interpreted  by 
observing  the  colors  with  which  he  chooses  to 
surround  himself.  Closely  akin  to  this  pre¬ 
dominant  use  of  warmer  tints  and  shades  in 
interiors  is  the  widely  prevalent  idea  that  arti¬ 
ficial  illuminants  in  interiors,  devoted  largely  to 
social  purposes,  must  be  of  a  warm  yellowish 
tinge.  Perhaps  this  habit  is  the  result  of  a  sub¬ 
conscious  association  of  the  light  with  the  cheer¬ 
fulness  and  protection  afforded  by  the  primeval 
campfire,  but  more  likely  it  is  merely  the  insist¬ 
ence  of  habit  resulting  from  associating  a  warm 


178  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


yellowish  color  with  all  the  artificial  illuminants 
of  the  past. 

These  facts  and  many  others  closely  related 
must  be  considered,  but  from  the  viewpoint  of 
the  language  of  color,  the  preference  of  color  for 
color’s  sake  alone  is  of  chief  interest.  Eventu¬ 
ally,  the  view  may  be  extended,  but  in  the  pres¬ 
ent  rudimentary  stage  and  with  the  aim  of  in¬ 
terpreting  the  language  of  color  the  discussion 
and  experimentation  must  be  confined  chiefly  to 
the  effects  of  color  alone  as  far  as  possible.  In 
passing  it  may  be  observed  that  Nature  employs 
a  relatively  small  amount  of  pure  color.  Even 
the  glorious  sunsets  are  devoid  of  pure  colors, 
all  the  beautiful  effects  arising  from  ever-chang¬ 
ing  combinations  of  tints  and  shades.  Many  of 
the  beautiful  scenes  in  Nature  are  painted 
chiefly  with  tints  and  shades,  although  here  and 
there  slight  amounts  of  fairly  pure  color  lend 
emphasis  by  contrast.  In  the  fleeting  and 
casual  glance  of  most  observers  the  beauty  of 
Nature’s  color  is  unseen  owing  to  this  lack  of 
great  areas  of  pure  color.  It  appears  that  most 
persons  ordinarily  do  not  observe  color  unless 
it  is  present  in  relatively  large  areas  and  of 
fairly  high  purity  or  unless  the  contrast  is  strik¬ 
ing  such  as  in  the  case  of  a  yellow  or  red  flower 
amid  a  large  area  of  green  foliage. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  179 


The  results  of  investigations  of  color  prefer¬ 
ence  from  the  other  viewpoint,  namely  that  in 
which  the  influence  of  all  other  factors  besides 
color  itself  is  minimized,  are  relatively  more 
definite  owing  to  the  relative  simplicity  of  this 
aspect.  That  is,  when  the  object  is  to  obtain 
results  that  are  definite  and  capable  of  being 
quite  thoroughly  analyzed,  laboratory  experi¬ 
ments  upon  a  large  number  of  observers  suffice 
and  these  are  readily  controlled.  Of  course, 
there  always  remains  the  question  as  to  how 
completely  the  influences  of  association,  habit, 
environment,  etc.,  have  been  eliminated,  but  the 
consistency  of  the  results  obtained  by  various 
careful  investigators  is  a  favorable  indication 
that  data  obtained  from  such  experiments  are 
valuable.  Definite  data  have  been  obtained  for 
various  aspects  of  the  problems  of  color  prefer¬ 
ence  confronting  us  and  the  experiments  are 
constantly  being  extended  into  the  vast  un¬ 
known  of  the  psychology  of  color.  Some  of  the 
results  will  be  presented  with  brief  discussions 
and  interpretations.  It  is  recognized  that  the 
latter  may  not  always  be  tenable  as  new  data  are 
unearthed  but  the  intention  here  is  to  complete 
the  chain  of  evidence  as  it  exists  at  present 
which  points  toward  a  language  of  color. 

It  has  been  quite  conclusively  established  that 


180  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


fairly  pure  colors  are  more  highly  preferred 
than  colors  of  lower  saturation  and  of  lower 
luminosity ;  that  is,  admixture  of  white  or  black 
(in  the  case  of  pigments)  lowers  the  preference 
of  a  color.  In  other  words,  pure  colors,  in  gen¬ 
eral,  rank  higher  in  the  preference  order  than 
tints  and  shades.  The  rank  of  tints  relatively 
to  shades  in  general  has  not  been  definitely  as¬ 
certained.  Bradford,  in  experimenting  with 
twenty-six  university  students  with  a  set  of  fif¬ 
teen  colored  papers,  found  that  saturated  colors 
were  most  preferred  and  that  the  admixture  of 
a  small  percentage  of  another  color  lowered  the 
position  of  the  color  in  the  preference  order. 
He  also  found  that  the  preference  order  re¬ 
mained  fairly  constant  for  individuals  by  re¬ 
peating  the  same  experiments  on  three  observ¬ 
ers  after  the  lapse  of  one  year.  Cohn,  the 
author,  and  others  have  also  arrived  at  the  con¬ 
clusion  that,  in  general,  pure  colors  are  more 
highly  preferred  than  tints  and  shades  when 
other  influences  are  minimized.  It  will  be  noted 
that  this  conclusion  is  apparently  contradicted 
by  the  ordinary  usage  of  color  in  daily  life,  but 
it  must  be  remembered  that  in  the  latter  case  the 
conditions  are  complex.  Although  other  data 
are  available  the  foregoing  points  are  well 
exemplified  in  the  results  of  color  preference 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  181 


experiments  on  115  male  and  121  female  college 
students,  the  data  having  been  furnished  to  the 
author  by  Prof.  Mabel  C.  Williams.  These 


Fig.  1.  Showing  total  number  of  times  each  color  was  pre¬ 
ferred  by  115  male  students. 

data  were  obtained  by  the  method  of  paired 
comparisons.  Colored  papers  were  compared 
in  pairs  upon  a  neutral  background,  there  being 
a  total  of  18  colored  papers,  comprising  a  tint, 
a  shade,  and  a  fairly  pure  color  of  6  different 


182  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


hues.  By  this  method  each  of  the  18  colors  was 
compared  with  every  other  color,  the  observer 
recording  his  choice  in  the  case  of  each  pair. 


Fig.  2.  Showing  total  number  of  times  each  color  was  pre¬ 
ferred  by  121  female  students. 

Each  color  therefore  came  under  the  subject’s 
observation  17  times.  A  summary  of  the  total 
first  choices  for  the  different  colors  indicates 
the  relative  rank  of  the  various  colors.  The 
'results  were  reduced  by  the  author  during 


NUMBER  OF  PREFERENCES’ 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  183 


which  process  a  few  uncertain  cases  were  dis¬ 
carded.  In  Fig.  1  are  plotted  the  total  num¬ 
ber  of  choices  of  each  color  by  the  115  young 


Fig.  3.  Showing  total  number  of  times  each  color  was  pre¬ 
ferred  by  115  male  and  121  female  students. 

men.  Similar  results  are  shown  for  the  121 
young  women  in  Fig.  2,  and  the  total  choices 
— for  men  and  women — are  shown  in  Fig.  3. 
It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  case  of  the  men  the 
pure  colors  are  very  definitely  preferred  to  the 


184  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


shades  and  tints  as  indicated  by  the  peaks. 
The  pure  colors  (as  pure  as  obtainable  by  means 
of  pigments)  are  indicated  on  the  horizontal 
scale  by  the  initial  letters,  R,  Y,  etc. ;  the  tints 
by  a  subscript  t  as  Rt;  and  the  shades  by  the 
subscript  s,  as  Rs.  In  the  case  of  the  young 
women,  Fig.  2,  the  peaks  are  not  so  well  defined ; 
however,  a  similar  conclusion  is  tenable.  The 
yellow  shade  was  the  least  preferred  of  all  the 
colors.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  tints  of  yellow 
and  orange  so  commonly  employed  in  interiors 
are  among  the  least  favored  in  experiments  of 
color  preference  where  the  colors  are  chosen 
largely  for  color’s  sake  alone. 

An  inspection  of  the  three  illustrations  will 
reveal  the  results  more  clearly  than  further  dis¬ 
cussion;  however,  it  is  interesting  to  note  the 
summary  presented  in  the  following  table. 
There  are  many  limitations  to  the  application 
of  mathematics  to  such  problems;  but  it  ap¬ 
pears  safe  to  summarize  the  total  choices  of 
tints,  shades,  and  pure  colors  for  the  sake  of 
drawing  further  conclusions  of  a  general  nature. 
The  number  of  times  that  tints,  shades  and  pure 
colors  were  chosen  are  given  separately  for  the 
men  and  for  the  women.  The  total  number  of 
choices  are  also  presented. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  185 


Summary  of  Choices  Registered  for  Tints,  Shades  and 
Pure  Colors 


Choices 
by  115  Males 

Choices 
by  121  Females 

Choices  by  Both 

Total 

Average 

Total 

Average 

Total 

Average 

Tints  . 

4906 

42.7 

5977 

49.3 

10883 

46.0 

Shades  . 

5064 

44.0 

5378 

44.5 

10442 

44.3 

Pure  colors. . 

7399 

64.2 

6836 

56.5 

14235 

60.4 

A  better  comparison  is  obtained  by  comput¬ 
ing  the  average  number  of  choices  per  observer 
for  each  of  the  three  kinds  of  colors.  These 
are  given  in  the  remaining  columns.  For  ex¬ 
ample,  the  average  number  of  times  tints  were 
more  preferred  than  the  other  colors,  was  for 
men,  42.7,  for  women,  49.3,  and  for  both  com¬ 
bined,  46,  the  latter  being  a  simple  mean.  In 
each  column  of  average  choices  the  sum  should 
equal  153  because  there  are  153  different  com¬ 
binations,  of  two  each,  obtainable  with  18  colors. 
However,  in  no  case  is  this  true  owing  to  the 
necessity  of  discarding  a  few  choices  owing  to 
very  obvious  errors.  It  is  seen  that  the  tints 
were  somewhat  more  preferred  by  the  women 
than  by  the  men,  but  the  reverse  is  true  for  the 
purer  colors.  Shades  were  about  equally  pre¬ 
ferred  by  the  men  and  by  the  women.  The  sum¬ 
mary  of  average  choices  in  the  last  column  show 


186  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


clearly  that  the  purer  colors  are  most  preferred 
and  little  difference  exists  between  the  tints  and 
shades.  This  result  is  in  accord  with  that  of 
others  as  previously  noted. 

The  foregoing  represents  only  one  of  the 
many  interesting  problems  of  color  preference. 
Another  important  question  to  be  answered  is 
the  relative  rank  in  the  preference  order  of  col¬ 
ors  of  equal  purity  as  ordinarily  determined. 
From  a  general  experience  with  color  and  from 
observation  of  the  general  attitude  of  many  per¬ 
sons  toward  colors,  the  author  was  led  to  the 
conclusion  that,  for  fairly  pure  colors  at  least, 
the  colors  near  the  ends  of  the  spectrum  are 
generally  more  preferred  for  color’s  sake  alone 
than  those  near  the  middle.  Another  viewpoint 
would  be  that  the  more  luminous  of  the  spectral 
colors  are  less  preferred  than  those  of  lower 
reflection  factors.  Experiments  of  others  indi¬ 
cated  that  this  conclusion  was  tenable  but  no 
data  were  available  which  had  been  obtained 
with  a  large  number  of  colors  of  approximately 
the  same  degree  of  saturation.  Therefore  a  set 
of  15  fairly  pure  colored  papers  was  used, 
among  which  were  three  colors  of  approxi¬ 
mately  the  same  saturation  but  which  would  be 
classed  as  shades,  namely,  a  dull  yellow-green, 
a  dull  green,  and  a  slate  blue-gray.  Fifteen  ob- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  187 


servers  were  used  and  they  were  instructed  to 
choose  the  colors  for  ‘  ‘  color ’s  sake  ’  ’  alone.  The 
colored  papers,  each  4  inches  square,  were 


Fig.  4.  Showing  preference  order  of  fairly  saturated  colors 
under  daylight  illumination,  D. ;  under  tungsten  lamp  illumi¬ 
nation,  T. 


spread  upon  a  white  surface,  each  color  being 
kept  at  some  distance  from  the  others.  These 
were  mixed  haphazardly  several  times  while  the 
observer  studied  them  for  a  few  minutes.  He 
then  began  to  pick  them  out  in  the  order  of 
preference.  The  mean  order  of  preference  for 


188  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


the  15  subjects  is  presented  in  curve  D,  Fig.  4, 
for  daylight  illumination  and  in  curve  T  when 
the  colored  papers  were  illuminated  by  incan¬ 
descent  tungsten  lamps.  The  two  observations 
were  made  by  a  given  subject  at  intervals  not 
less  than  several  days  apart.  It  is  seen  that 
for  these  conditions  the  colors  near  the  middle 
of  the  spectrum  are  less  preferred  than  those 
at  the  extremes.  A  few  experiments  under  the 
same  conditions,  except  that  the  white  back¬ 
ground  was  replaced  by  black,  indicated  the 
same  general  results  although  slight  differences 
no  doubt  would  have  been  observed  if  sufficient 
data  had  been  obtained.  For  pure  colors,  how¬ 
ever,  it  appears  that  the  results  would  be  quite 
similar  with  various  neutral  backgrounds. 

Inasmuch  as  the  appearances  of  colors  are 
very  much  influenced  by  the  illuminant,  the  two 
different  illuminants  were  used.  It  is  not  sur¬ 
prising,  however,  that,  with  fairly  pure  colors, 
the  same  general  results  were  obtained  in  these 
two  cases.  By  using  a  large  number  of  ob¬ 
servers  and  a  greater  number  of  colors  it  would 
be  surprising  if  the  results  under  the  two  il¬ 
luminants  did  not  differ  considerably,  especially 
with  less  saturated  colors.  Many  interesting 
points  remain  to  be  investigated  although  a  few 
general  conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  the  data 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  189 


at  present  available.  It  will  be  noted  that  the 
author’s  results  described  above  are  confirmed 
by  the  data  presented  in  Figs.  1,  2  and  3. 

Minor  devised  an  experiment  to  test  the  rela¬ 
tive  preference  for  saturated  over  unsaturated 
colors  using  colored  circles  one  meter  in  di¬ 
ameter.  He  used  seven  colored  gelatine  plates, 
from  violet  to  red,  in  a  projection  lantern,  thus 
projecting  the  large  circle  of  colored  light  upon 
a  white  screen.  He  used  three  degrees  of  sat¬ 
uration  but  kept  the  brightness  constant.  The 
reactions  were  to  be  immediate  without  reflec¬ 
tion  or  comparison  and  the  judgments  were  to 
be  expressed  in  the  five  following  terms:  very 
pleasing,  pleasing,  indifferent,  displeasing,  very 
displeasing.  The  subject  was  then  questioned 
regarding  associations,  feelings,  and  judgment 
processes.  Saturated  colors  were  in  each  case 
found  to  be  more  preferred  than  unsaturated 
colors.  As  might  be  expected  the  judgment  was 
found  to  be  influenced  by  the  pleasingness  of 
the  colors  themselves,  the  bodily  conditions,  the 
mental  state,  and  by  associations. 

Somewhat  contradictory  to  these  results, 
Washburn  and  her  students  found  on  compar¬ 
ing  colored  papers  5  cm.  square  with  others  25 
cm.  square  that  saturated  colors  were  preferred 
in  the  smaller  area,  except  saturated  red.  In 


190  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


the  larger  area,  tints  and  shades  were  preferred. 
It  is  dangerous  to  draw  many  conclusions  with¬ 
out  a  greater  amount  of  data,  but  it  appears 
plausible  that  the  saturated  colors  were  only 
preferred  in  the  smaller  area  when  it  is  con¬ 
sidered  that  such  is  the  most  common  usage  of 
saturated  colors  by  Nature  and  by  mankind.  If 
our  tastes  have  been  molded  by  Nature  or  are 
indicated  by  our  artificial  environment  it  is  not 
surprising  that  even  in  a  laboratory  experiment 
the  purer  colors  would  be  preferred  in  the 
smaller  area  and  the  tints  and  shades  in  much 
larger  areas.  It  is  well  to  note  that  the  absolute 
dimensions  are  of  little  moment  as  compared 
with  the  solid  angle  subtended  by  the  colored 
object.  The  latter  is  determined  by  the  distance 
from  the  eye  to  the  object  as  well  as  the  absolute 
size  of  the  object  in  ordinary  vision.  According 
to  Washburn  and  Crawford,  when  colors  are 
fixated  for  one  minute  the  arousal  of  associa¬ 
tions  and  adaptations  may  change  the  affective 
value.  They  claim  that  associations  have  little 
influence  on  saturated  colors  and  what  they  have 
is  favorable.  It  appeared  from  their  results 
that  adaptation  was  favorable  to  violet,  blue 
and  green,  unfavorable  to  yellow  and  red,  and 
on  the  whole  unfavorable  to  tints  and  shades. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  191 


Associations  were  favorable  to  tints  and  to 
shades  of  violet,  green,  orange  and  red. 

Jastrow,  at  the  World’s  Fair  in  1893,  tested 
4500  men  and  women  for  color  preference  and 
found  blue  to  be  preeminently  the  favorite  color 
for  men  and  red  for  women.  This  is  confirmed 
in  Figs.  1  and  2.  Starch  tested  133  persons — 
69  men  and  64  women — using  ten  Hering  col¬ 
ors  on  a  white  ground  including  approxima¬ 
tions  to  nine  spectral  colors  and  a  purple.  The 
results  indicated  that  the  colors  near  the  ends 
of  the  spectrum  in  general  were  most  preferred. 
Red  and  blue  ranked  highest  for  both  men  and 
women  although  blue  was  slightly  more  pre¬ 
ferred  by  the  men  and  red  more  preferred  by 
the  women. 

Wissler  tested  the  color  preference  of  about 
300  men  and  women  with  similar  results,  that 
is,  blue  ranked  first  for  men  with  red  next.  Red 
was  the  favorite  for  the  women.  The  colors 
near  the  middle  of  the  spectrum  ranked  con¬ 
siderably  lower  in  the  preference  order  than  the 
colors  near  the  extremes  of  the  spectrum.  Yel¬ 
low  ranked  lower  than  all  other  colors  including 
white  although  the  latter  was  next  to  yellow  in 
the  preference  order.  Orange  was  third  from 
the  bottom  and  green  next  above  it.  Thus  it 


192  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


is  seen  that  insofar  as  the  various  investigations 
have  proceeded  fairly  consistent  and  therefore 
reasonably  conclusive  results  have  been  ob¬ 
tained  in  most  cases.  Unfortunately  pure  spec¬ 
tral  colors  have  not  been  used  in  such  experi¬ 
ments. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  status  of  our  knowledge 
of  color  preference  as  it  exists  at  present.  Many 
other  data  could  be  presented  and  discussed,  but 
for  the  sake  of  brevity  many  of  the  contribu¬ 
tions  of  other  investigators  have  been  omitted 
although  they  have  been  influential  in  the  dis¬ 
cussion  already  presented.  Discussions  of  vari¬ 
ous  aspects  of  the  influence  of  color  are  pre¬ 
sented  in  other  chapters. 


AFFECTIVE  VALUE  OF  COLORS 


IT  is  possible  for  every  visual  impression  to 
be  a  cause  of  a  mental  reaction  although  it 
is  obvious  that  the  effectiveness  of  visual  stimuli 
in  this  respect  is  largely  dependent  upon  the 
state  of  intellectual  development  of  the  individ¬ 
ual.  It  seems  likely  to  depend  upon  the  ability 
of  the  individual  to  observe  and  to  react.  In 
dealing  with  the  present  subject  it  is  of  direct 
interest  only  to  consider  the  affective  value  of 
colors  upon  normal  individuals  of  at  least  aver¬ 
age  mental  ability  and  intellectual  development. 
In  many  of  the  previous  chapters  various  sub¬ 
jects  have  been  treated  for  the  purpose  of  ob¬ 
taining  a  view  of  the  various  factors  which  have 
been  influential  in  molding  our  present  attitude 
toward  colors.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  psy¬ 
chology  of  color  is  indeed  complicated  not  only 
by  the  past  experiences  of  the  individual  but  also 
by  the  superstitions,  habits,  and  experiences  of 
a  long  line  of  ancestors  extending  far  back  into 
the  early  childhood  of  the  human  race.  How¬ 
ever,  after  presenting  brief  discussions  of  many 
of  these  factors  it  appears  of  interest  to  discuss 
the  results  obtained  with  normal  intellectual 


194  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


subjects  upon  the  affective  values  of  colors. 
Unfortunately  the  knowledge  of  the  psychology 
of  the  affective  processes  is  in  a  very  unsatis¬ 
factory  and  unsettled  state.  The  physics  of 
color  is  well  established,  but  this  is  not  true  of 
the  physiology  and  of  the  psychology  of  color. 
There  is  a  vast  amount  of  data  available  which 
bears  upon  the  physiological  aspects  of  color, 
but  many  of  the  experimental  results  are  as  yet 
unreconcilable  with  each  other  or  with  any  gen¬ 
eral  theory  of  color-vision.  The  psychology  of 
color  is  even  in  a  more  chaotic  state,  and  owing 
to  the  meagerness  of  the  data  bearing  upon  this 
aspect  it  is  almost  an  unexplored  unknown. 
However,  there  are  data  available  which  are  of 
extreme  interest  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  color. 

It  is  to  be  expected  that  there  will  be  very 
conspicuous  differences  among  individuals  be¬ 
cause  each  has  acquired  so  many  and  so  varied 
emotional  and  sentimental  attitudes  toward 
colors.  Individual  experience  and  temperament 
are  very  important  factors  which  are  responsi¬ 
ble  for  variations  among  individuals,  however, 
a  general  consistency  is  usually  perceptible  in 
psychological  experiments  with  colors  provided 
sufficiently  large  groups  of  subjects  are  used. 
Many  difficulties  arise  when  the  attempt  is  made 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  195 


to  interpret  the  experimental  results  upon  the 
affective  values  of  colors  because  the  affective 
processes  are  so  little  understood  and  the  ex¬ 
perimental  methods  are  not  wholly  satisfactory. 
However,  these  difficulties  will  not  be  considered 
in  presenting  data  which  will  be  of  interest  here. 

The  variety  of  brightness  and  color  sensations 
which  is  experienced  by  the  individual  depends 
upon  the  state  of  his  visual  development.  He 
observes  what  his  previous  experience  has  pre¬ 
pared  him  to  observe.  Psychologists  state  that 
the  affective  yalue  of  a  visual  sensation  is  the 
result  of  the  affective  tone  of  the  sensation,  of 
the  affective  elements  of  consciousness,  and  of 
the  sentiments  and  emotions  which  are  as¬ 
sociated  with  the  visual  experience.  For  in¬ 
stance,  a  certain  color  may  be  pleasing  because 
it  has  an  agreeable  affective  tone  but  another 
color  may  be  pleasing  because  it  is  accompanied 
by  a  pleasant  emotion  although  its  affective  tone 
might  not  be  pleasing. 

It  would  be  advantageous  in  such  studies  to 
separate  the  effects  of  hue  from  those  of  lumi¬ 
nosity  or  brightness,  but  this  is  in  general  very 
difficult.  From  a  series  of  neutral  grays  ex¬ 
tending  from  white  to  black  an  individual  will 
usually  choose  certain  grays  that  are  agreeable 
to  him.  These  are  usually  near  the  middle  of 


196  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


the  series.  In  other  words,  neither  white  nor 
black  would  be  chosen  as  the  most  agreeable 
generally.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
brightnesses  are  chosen  as  most  agreeable  not 
for  their  absolute  values  but  for  their  values 
relative  to  those  associated  with  them.  It  is 
also  certain  that  colors  are  accompanied  to  a 
greater  extent  than  grays  by  sentiments,  emo¬ 
tions,  and  affective  elements  of  consciousness. 
The  purer  colors  are,  in  general,  more  agree¬ 
able  than  the  slightly  saturated  colors,  although 
it  is  contended  by  some  that  green  and  violet 
reach  their  highest  degree  of  agreeableness 
when  not  of  greatest  purity.  These  conclusions 
of  course  are  drawn  from  experiments  in  which 
the  effects  of  environment  and  other  external 
factors  are  simplified  and  minimized  as  far  as 
possible.  The  discussion  of  color  preference  in 
another  chapter  is  of  interest  here. 

The  data  available  are  in  quite  complete 
agreement  that  the  so-called  warm  colors,  red, 
orange  and  yellow,  are  stimulating  or  exciting 
in  varying  degree  from  a  maximum  for  red 
(scarlet)  to  a  less  degree  for  the  yellow.  Green 
is  fairly  neutral  in  this  respect,  blue  produces  a 
grave  mood-reaction  and  violet  a  similar  one 
which  might  be  described  as  solemn.  Consider¬ 
ing  the  colors  in  the  spectrum  it  is  seen  that 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  197 


there  is  a  definite  variation  from  red  to  violet 
and  it  is  generally  agreed  that  both  extremes  of 
the  spectrum  and  combinations  of  these — the 
purples — produce  fairly  neutral  or  tranquil 
mood-affections.  This  is  quite  in  agreement 
with  general  experience. 

It  is  certain  that  different  colors  stimulate 
various  mood-affections  especially  powerfully 
in  those  who  possess  fine  sensibilities.  It  is  of 
interest  to  note  the  description  of  the  affective 
values  given  to  various  colors  and  as  an  example 
the  following  analysis  by  N.  A.  Wells  of  the 
effects  of  color  upon  himself  is  presented: 

Crimson,  or  deep  red  with  a  trace  of  blue  in 
it,  when  standing  alone,  or  seen  in  large  quantity 
always  gave  him  vague  impressions  of  passion, 
rage,  blood,  etc. 

Scarlet,  or  red  with  a  trace  of  yellow — the 
blare  of  trumpets. 

Deep  orange,  the  heat  of  flame;  soon  excites 
irritation  to  a  feeling  of  suffocation. 

Orange-yellow,  warm,  glowing,  lively. 

Yellow,  joyous,  gay,  merry. 

Yellow-green,  cheerful,  smiling. 

Green,  peaceful,  neither  sad  nor  cheerful. 

Blue-green,  sedate,  sober. 

Blue,  cool  tranquillity. 

Violet-blue,  stern,  hard,  unyielding,  gloom. 


198  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


Violet,  subduing,  serious  to  the  point  of  mel¬ 
ancholy. 

Purple,  stately,  pompous,  impressive. 

It  is  certain  that  few  persons  would  exactly 
agree  in  analyzing  their  mood-reactions  to  a 
similar  series  of  colors  but  there  are  indications 
that  an  approximate  agreement  would  be  found 
quite  general.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  association  with  certain  colors  and  to 
conjecture  upon  this  influence  with  other  colors 
in  the  foregoing  list. 

A  number  of  investigators  have  studied  the 
affective  value  of  colors  with  large  groups  of 
subjects  and  certain  general  facts  have  been 
established.  It  appears  to  be  most  profitable  to 
present  the  procedure  and  results  of  a  number 
of  investigations  because  a  broader  view  will 
be  thus  obtained. 

Wells  lias  experimented  with  large  groups  of 
subjects  consisting  of  both  men  and  women.  He 
used  the  twelve  colors  whose  mood-reactions 
upon  himself  have  already  been  presented.  The 
colors  were  painted  with  aniline  dyes  to  as  full 
saturation  as  possible  upon  white  water-color 
paper.  Two-inch  squares  of  these  colors  were 
mounted  about  three  inches  apart  in  a  horizon¬ 
tal  row  upon  a  large  neutral  gray  background. 
The  latter  is  preferable  to  white  or  black  be- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  199 


cause  it  avoids  extreme  brightness  contrasts. 
Furthermore,  such  colors  are  usually  of  greatest 
power  amid  such  an  environment.  The  colors 
were  arranged  in  their  spectral  order,  thus 
minimizing  the  effects  of  simultaneous  contrast. 
The  color-chart  was  hung  before  the  group  of 
subjects  and  the  following  list  of  words  was  dis¬ 
played  upon  a  blackboard : 


quiet 

exciting 

depressing 

peaceful 

sad 

solemn 

loud 

dignified 

lively- 

neutral 

heavy 

gloomy 

somber 

gay 

light  or  airy 

energetic 

restful 

cheerful 

noisy 

dainty 

The  subjects  were  requested  to  write  one  of 
these  adjectives  (or  any  other  if  they  so  desired) 
which  expressed  the  feeling  or  mood  suggested 
by  each  color.  All  were  cautioned  not  to  em¬ 
ploy  purely  subjective  descriptions,  such  as 
pleasant,  unpleasant,  agreeable  or  unagreeable, 
because  it  was  not  so  much  a  question  what  they 
liked  or  disliked  as  why  they  liked  or  disliked. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  adjectives  in  the 
foregoing  list  can  be  classed  into  three  groups 
of  energized,  tranquilized,  and  subdued  moods. 
The  replies  are  classified  under  these  three 
groups  in  the  following  table  in  which  a  sum¬ 
mary  of  the  results  with  63  subjects — 32  men 
and  31  women — are  presented. 


200  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOK 


Total  Number  of  Replies  from  63  Subjects  Indicating  Three 
General  Types  of  Mood-Reactions  Due  to  the 


Twelve  Different  Colors 

Exciting 

Tranquilizing 

Subduing 

influence 

influence 

influence 

Crimson 

41 

0 

10 

Scarlet 

56 

0 

0 

Deep  Orange 

59 

0 

0 

Orange-yellow 

55 

6 

0 

Yellow 

53 

6 

0 

Yellow-green 

14 

39 

5 

Green 

28 

32 

0 

Blue-green 

32 

23 

6 

Blue 

11 

21 

30 

Yiolet-blu'e 

0 

17 

45 

Violet 

0 

6 

54 

Purple 

3 

1 

48 

The  subjects  were  college  students  scattered 
through  the  various  colleges  of  engineering, 
science,  literature  and  arts,  and  agriculture. 

The  results  indicated  no  great  sex  difference 
excepting  in  the  blue-green,  but  seemed  to  in¬ 
dicate  that  the  development  of  color  perception 
is  more  complete  among  women  than  among 
men.  The  hues  in  which  red  predominates  in¬ 
duce  a  mood-reaction  of  an  exciting  character. 
This  excitation  began  to  appear  for  a  few  of  the 
subjects  with  the  purple,  increased  in  strength 
for  crimson,  became  a  maximum  in  the  scarlet 
and  deep-orange,  thence  diminished  until  the 
mood-reaction  became  one  of  tranquillity  for  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  201 


yellow-green.  From  this  point  there  is  a  curi¬ 
ous  rise  toward  excitement  which  becomes  pro¬ 
nounced  in  the  blue-green  and  gradually  di¬ 
minishes  in  passing  through  the  blue  and  violet- 
blue.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  contradictory 
nature  of  the  replies  for  the  middle  or  tranquil 
region  of  the  series  of  colors.  It  seems  that 
these  contradictions  furnish  evidence  that  the 
colors  in  this  region  are  not  of  sufficient  affec¬ 
tive  energy  to  induce  reactions  of  a  definite 
character  in  a  large  majority  of  sensibilities. 

Wells  believed  that  the  combined  stimulus  of 
all  those  colors  which  appeared  to  be  respec¬ 
tively  exciting,  tranquilizing,  or  repressing  in 
affective  character,  would  become  cumulative  if 
simultaneously  presented.  He  therefore  cut  the 
color-chart  vertically  into  three  portions;  the 
first  portion  containing  crimson,  scarlet,  deep- 
orange,  orange,  orange-yellow  and  yellow;  the 
second  portion,  yellow-green,  green,  blue-green 
and  blue;  and  the  third  portion,  blue-violet, 
violet  and  purple.  These  portions  were  placed 
on  a  blackboard  ten  feet  apart  so  that  when  the 
eye  rested  upon  one  group  the  others  were  well 
outside  the  direct  visual  field.  The  same  list  of 
words  was  written  upon  the  blackboard  with 
the  following  list  of  qualifying  adverbs  in  antici¬ 
pation  of  more  powerful  mood-reactions  which 


202  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


might  result  from  each  group.  The  subjects 
were  permitted  to  use  any  other  qualifying 
words  in  describing  the  mood  induced  by  each 
group.  The  additional  words  were  : 

richly  sadly  tranquilly  daintily 

sedately  gayly  impressively  cheerfully 

pompously  quietly  gorgeously  depressingly 

The  results  firmly  supported  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  in  the  preceding  investigation. 

It  appears  from  this  study  “that  a  given 
sensory  stimulus  has,  for  normal  sense-percep¬ 
tions  and  under  ordinary  conditions,  an  affec¬ 
tive  character  which  remains  constant  regard¬ 
less  of  any  subjective  attitude  of  the  sensibili¬ 
ties  toward  that  stimulus.”  For  example,  the 
responses  to  scarlet  were  gay,  noisy,  exciting, 
loud,  energetic,  etc.  All  of  these  indicate  that 
the  affective  character  of  scarlet  is  exciting  re¬ 
gardless  of  the  subjective  attitude  toward  it. 

Powelson  and  Washburn  studied  the  effect  of 
verbal  suggestion  on  the  affective  values  of 
colors  with  35  young  women  for  subjects.  The 
ninety  Bradley  colors  were  used,  each  color  be¬ 
ing  2.9  cm.  square.  These  were  shown  one  at 
a  time  upon  a  white  background  to  each  subject, 
who  was  instructed  to  record  a  degree  of  pleas- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  203 


antness  or  unpleasantness  using  numbers  from 
one  to  seven.  “Very  pleasant”  was  designated 
by  number  one,  “indifferent”  by  4,  and  very 
“unpleasant”  by  7.  The  colors  from  the  36th 
to  the  54th  in  the  series  (the  middle  eighteen) 
were  presented  with  an  accompanying  verbal 
suggestion  as  to  their  affective  value.  The  ex¬ 
periment  was  performed  twice  on  each  subject 
several  days  apart.  During  the  first  experiment 
the  verbal  suggestions  accompanying  the  middle 
18  colors  were  suggestions  of  unpleasantness  for 
the  first  half  of  the  observers  and  during  the 
second  sitting  they  were  suggestions  of  pleas¬ 
antness  for  these  observers.  The  other  subjects 
were  treated  reversely.  The  suggestions  were 
of  the  form  of  favorable  or  unfavorable;  for 
example,  the  words  “faded”  or  “delicate” 
might  be  used  in  the  two  cases  for  a  given  color. 

Twenty-five  subjects  gave  results  indicating 
a  positive  effect  of  suggestion  in  altering  the 
judgments  of  affective  value  and  the  remaining 
ten  subjects  gave  indications  of  a  negative  in¬ 
fluence  of  verbal  suggestion,  that  is,  the  judg¬ 
ments  of  the  latter  were  altered  in  a  direction 
opposite  to  the  suggestion.  From  this  it  may 
be  concluded  that  direct  verbal  suggestion  re¬ 
garding  the  pleasantness  or  unpleasantness  of 


204  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


a  color  has  a  fairly  decided  positive  effect  on 
the  judgments  of  observers  of  this  type  and 
under  the  conditions  of  the  experiment. 

Robbins,  Smith  and  Washburn,  using  the 
same  series  of  ninety  colors,  studied  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  fatigue  on  the  affective  sensitiveness 
to  colors.  The  series  was  divided  into  four 
groups,  A,  B,  C  and  D,  the  colors  being  selected 
at  random  for  each  group,  but  the  colors  of  each 
group  were  always  presented  to  the  observer  in 
the  same  order.  Each  color  was  laid  on  a  white 
ground  before  the  subject  and  she  was  asked  to 
judge  its  pleasantness  or  unpleasantness,  using 
the  numbers  from  1  to  7  in  expressing  the  de¬ 
gree.  The  entire  set  of  90  colors  was  presented 
twice  over  at  each  sitting,  the  order  of  the  sets 
being  altered  systematically.  The  order  of  the 
sets  for  the  first  sitting  were  ABCDBCDA,  for 
the  second  sitting,  BCDACDAB,  and  so  on.  It 
is  thus  seen  that  the  element  of  fatigue  would 
enter  into  two  presentations  of  the  series  of  90 
colors  at  each  sitting  because  the  first  group 
was  also  the  last  in  the  order  of  presentation. 

Without  entering  into  the  details  of  the  in¬ 
vestigation  the  general  results  will  be  presented. 
Eiglity-two  young  women  were  used  as  subjects. 
Only  31  per  cent,  stated  that  they  were  bored  at 
the  end  of  the  long  series  of  180  judgments. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  205 


Five  of  the  82  stated  that  they  were  more  in¬ 
terested  at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning. 
About  35  per  cent,  of  those  who  reported  being 
bored  showed  higher  affective  values  toward 
the  end  than  for  the  same  colors  at  the  beginning 
and  65  per  cent,  showed  lower  values.  Thus 
a  difference  of  30  per  cent,  represented  the 
tendency  of  the  affective  values  to  diminish  as 
the  result  of  ennui.  Of  those  who  reported 
equal  interest  throughout  the  experiment  36  per 
cent,  gave  an  average  affective  value  higher  at 
the  end  than  at  the  first  presentation  and  56  per 
cent,  a  lower  value.  The  difference  of  20  per 
cent,  indicates  the  observers  who,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  their  failure  to  recognize  ennui,  showed  a 
decrease  in  the  average  degree  of  pleasantness 
assigned  to  the  colors  at  the  end  of  the  series. 
Other  interesting  analyses  may  be  applied  to 
the  results  but  in  general  they  indicate  that, 
under  the  conditions  of  the  investigation,  affec¬ 
tive  sensibility  to  colors  tends  to  diminish  with 
ennui  produced  by  a  long  series  of  judgments 
on  the  affective  values  of  colors  and  that  the 
decrease  in  affective  sensibility  is  more  closely 
correlated  with  the  introspective  reports  of 
ennui  than  is  the  average  affective  value  of  the 
colors. 

Washburn  and  Crawford  have  concluded  that 


206  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


when  colors  are  gazed  upon  steadily  for  one 
minute  the  arousal  of  associations  and  adapta¬ 
tion  may  change  the  affective  value.  Their  re¬ 
sults  indicated  that  associations  have  little  in¬ 
fluence  in  altering  the  degree  of  pleasantness  of 
saturated  colors  and  what  they  have  seems  to  be 
favorable.  Adaptation  is  favorable  to  violet, 
blue  and  green ;  unfavorable  to  yellow  and  red. 
Associations  appeared  to  be  favorable  to  tints 
and  to  shades  of  violet,  green,  orange,  and  red. 
Adaptation  was  on  the  whole  unfavorable  to 
tints  and  shades. 

Geiger,  using  simple  colors,  concluded  that 
the  cheerfulness  of  a  color  was  uniformly  ex¬ 
perienced  as  a  quality  of  the  color  and  not  as 
a  feeling  of  the  subject. 

Bullough  investigated  the  problem  of  color 
appreciation  and  divided  it  into  two  parts:  (a), 
the  “aspects  of  color,”  that  is,  their  objective 
qualities;  (b),  the  “perceptive  types,”  that  is, 
the  classification  of  observers  on  the  basis  of 
the  character  of  the  aspects  which  influence 
them  when  viewing  colors.  He  classified  the 
“aspects  of  color”  into  four  groups,  as  follows: 

(1)  Objective  aspect.  The  remarks  of  the 
subjects  refer  to  the  peculiarities  of  a  color  such 
as  saturation,  delicacy,  brightness,  muddiness. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  207 


(2)  Physiological  aspect.  This  is  indicated 
by  certain  effects  on  the  subjects. 

(3)  Associative  aspect.  This  represents  the 
suggestive  power  of  a  color. 

(4)  Character  aspect.  This  includes  the  ex¬ 
pression  by  a  color  of  that  which,  in  the  case  of 
a  human  being  would  be  considered  his  char¬ 
acter,  mood,  or  temperament.  This  group  rep¬ 
resents  by  far  the  most  complex  aspect  of  color 
appreciation. 

The  “perceptive  types”  correspond  to  the 
main  groups  of  color  aspects  and  therefore  the 
four  terms  noted  above  are  also  used  for  these. 
Bullough distinguishes  between  the  “agreeable” 
and  the  “beautiful.”  When  a  color  is  agree¬ 
able  we  occupy  the  center  but  when  it  is  beauti¬ 
ful  the  color  occupies  the  focus  of  attention.  In 
this  plan  of  distinction  the  physiological  type 
appears  to  be  the  type  of  lowest  esthetic  value. 
To  subjects  of  this  type  colors  are  merely  agree¬ 
able.  The  objective  type  occupy  a  position 
higher  in  the  scale  of  esthetic  values  because  of 
the  greater  importance  of  the  color  impression 
of  these  cases.  Next  above  this  type  is  that  of 
“fused  association”  and  the  character  type  oc¬ 
cupies  the  highest  point  in  the  scale  of  esthetic 
values.  The  freedom  of  this  type  ‘  ‘  from  purely 


208  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


personal  factors,  from  accidental  memories  and 
irrational  associations,  and  its  essentially  emo¬ 
tional  tone  invest  this  type  with  a  kind  of  objec¬ 
tive  reality  which  is  generally  characteristic  of 
esthetic  experiences,  and  stamps  this  form  of 
color  appreciation  as  the  esthetic  appreciation 
par  excellence.”  It  appears  that  the  greatest 
understanding  and  widest  application  of  a  lan¬ 
guage  of  color  eventually  must  depend  upon  the 
development  of  this  highest  type. 


ATTENTION  VALUE  OF  COLORS 


QUITE  another  aspect  of  color  is  found  on 
turning  to  the  attention  value.  A  color 
may  attract  attention  whether  it  is  pleasing  or 
not  and  the  power  of  attraction  doubtless  is, 
to  some  extent,  proportional  to  the  degree  of 
pleasantness  or  unpleasantness.  Of  course, 
such  factors  as  novelty,  unexpectedness,  con¬ 
trast,  congruity  and  others  enter  into  the  atten¬ 
tion  value  of  colors.  Much  of  the  data  and  dis¬ 
cussions  presented  throughout  this  treatise 
must  be  correlated  and  weighed  before  conclu¬ 
sions  can  be  reached  regarding  the  attention 
value  of  colors  because  experimental  data  are 
very  meager. 

Unusual  or  incongruous  uses  of  colors  doubt¬ 
less  attract  the  attention  of  more  persons  than 
any  innate  characteristics  of  colors.  For  in¬ 
stance,  a  red  hat  worn  by  a  man  would  attract 
attention  because  of  the  novelty  and  incongruity 
of  the  use  of  this  color  in  such  a  case.  This 
accounts  for  many  of  the  uses  of  colors  on  the 
stage,  in  advertising,  etc.  Contrast  both  in  hue 
and  in  brightness  plays  a  very  important  part 
in  the  power  of  colors  in  attracting  attention. 

209 


210  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


Few  persons  are  conscious  of  colors  if  they  do 
not  occupy  extensive  areas  or  if  the  contrast  is 
not  very  striking.  A  bright  red  or  yellow  flower 
amid  dark  green  foliage  will  attract  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  persons  who  ordinarily  would  not  notice 
these  colors  if  the  great  contrast  were  absent 
unless  the  colors  occupied  a  fairly  large  portion 
of  the  visual  field. 

Hue  contrast  is  a  very  important  factor  in 
the  attention  value  and  pleasing  effect  of  col¬ 
ors.  If  a  group  of  colors  be  illuminated  by 
an  illuminant  whose  spectrum  extends  over  a 
narrow  range  of  wave-lengths  the  beauty  of  the 
colors  disappears.  Under  such  conditions  the 
colors  are  of  approximately  the  same  hue  but 
differ  in  brightness.  Experiments  such  as  this 
impress  upon  one  the  conclusion  that  colors 
which  are  approximately  complementary  are 
likely  to  be  the  more  striking  combinations  of 
colors.  Doubtless  there  is  an  optimum  relation 
between  the  brightness  contrast  and  the  hue 
contrast  which  renders  a  combination  of  two 
colors  the  most  striking.  This  relation  is  per¬ 
haps  different  for  various  colors. 

It  appears  that  the  reader  may  be  able  to 
draw  his  own  conclusions  regarding  the  atten¬ 
tion  value  of  colors  after  correlating  the  data 
presented  in  other  chapters,  however,  a  glimpse 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  211 


of  the  data  which  are  available  may  aid  in  guid¬ 
ing  him  in  his  analysis.  Therefore  examples  of 
the  experimental  data  which  have  been  obtained 
especially  from  this  viewpoint  will  be  presented. 

Gale,  by  using  a  method  of  rapid  exposure  in 
presenting  various  colors  to  his  subjects,  be¬ 
lieved  that  he  thus  separated  the  attention  value 
from  the  artistic  value.  In  other  words,  he  be¬ 
lieved  that  attention  value  is  determined  by  a 
very  short  exposure,  whereas  artistic  value  can 
be  determined  only  by  a  sufficiently  long  ex¬ 
posure  during  which  the  subject  can  form  a 
judgment.  This  appears  reasonable  and  at 
least  the  artistic  factor  is  reduced  to  a  mini¬ 
mum  and  the  attention  value  is  doubtless  fairly 
well  determined.  He  exposed  the  colors  for  an 
instant  upon  a  white  background.  In  the  fol¬ 
lowing  table  is  shown  the  number  of  times,  N, 
each  color  was  noticed  and  also  the  percentage 
of  the  times  each  color  was  noticed  of  the  total 
number  of  times  all  colors  were  noticed.  The 
subjects  consisted  of  nine  men  and  seven  women. 

It  is  seen  that,  for  the  whole  group  of  ob¬ 
servers,  the  attention  value  of  red  is  the  highest 
with  black  a  close  second  and  yellow  the  lowest. 
The  degrees  of  purity  and  the  relative  bright¬ 
nesses  of  the  colors  are  not  available  but  it 
appears  safe  to  conclude  that  brightness  con- 


212  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


Attention  Value  of  Colors 


Color 

Men 

Women 

Average 

N 

% 

N 

% 

% 

Black  . 

151 

33.5 

43 

12.2 

22.9 

Red  . 

88 

19.5 

113 

32.2 

25.9 

Orange  . 

88 

19.5 

38 

10.8 

15.2 

Yellow  . 

4 

0.8 

23 

6.5 

3.7 

Green  . 

87 

19.3 

66 

18.8 

19.1 

Blue  . 

24 

5.3 

38 

10.8 

8.1 

Purple  . 

8 

1.7 

29 

8.2 

5.0 

trast  is  an  important  factor  in  attention  value. 
Both  red  and  black  are  very  low  in  luminosity 
as  compared  with  the  white  background  and 
therefore  the  brightness  contrasts  in  these  two 
cases  were  very  great.  On  the  other  hand, 
yellow  is  of  high  luminosity  and  the  contrast  in 
this  case  between  the  color  and  the  white  ground 
would  be  much  less  than  in  the  cases  of  black 
and  red.  However,  it  is  hardly  possible  that 
brightness  alone  accounts  for  the  results.  It  is 
a  matter  of  every-day  experience  that  among 
the  common  colors  red  always  attracts  attention 
quite  markedly. 

In  the  field  of  advertising  the  attention  value 
of  colors  is  important  and  therefore  this  field 
would  yield  interesting  data  if  records  were 
available.  Starch  has  presented  a  tabulation  of 
colored  advertisements  appearing  in  various 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  213 


magazines  which  showed  that  77  per  cent,  used 
red ;  19  per  cent,  brown ;  8  per  cent,  blue ;  6  per 
cent,  orange ;  6  per  cent,  green ;  6  per  cent,  yel¬ 
low;  and  5  per  cent,  purple.  These  data  show 
by  the  predominant  use  of  red  that  at  least  ad¬ 
vertising  men  regard  it  of  high  attention  value. 
It  appears  from  ordinary  observation  that  red 
is  quite  predominantly  used  in  colored  displays. 
The  use  of  red  as  a  universal  signal  for  danger 
appears  to  be  another  wholesale  admission  of  its 
attention  value. 

Other  factors  enter  into  the  acceptability  of 
colors  for  attracting  attention.  Many  colored 
advertisements  are  to  be  viewed  under  ordinary 
artificial  illuminants  which  are  rich  in  red  and 
orange  rays  and  poverty-stricken  in  blue  and 
violet.  Thus  red  does  not  suffer  under  artificial 
light  but  appears  more  brilliant  and  rich  in  hue 
than  many  other  colors.  On  the  other  hand, 
blues  and  violets  are  robbed  of  much  of  their 
color  and  appear  black,  or  nearly  so,  while 
yellow  is  very  much  washed  out  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  dominant  hue  of  most  artificial 
illuminants  is  yellow. 

Starch  has  presented  data  which  were  ob¬ 
tained  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  power 
of  color  contrast.  A  white  card  containing  25 
words  was  exposed  before  a  group  of  per- 


214  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


sons  for  a  brief  interval.  Twenty  words  were 
printed  in  black  and  tlie  remaining  five  in  red 
were  scattered  among  the  rest.  Immediately 
after  the  exposure  each  person  recorded  the 
words  that  he  had  retained  in  his  memory.  The 
following  data  were  obtained  with  24  subjects. 


Black 

20 

39 

1.6 

8.2 


Red 

5 

78 

3.2 

64.2 


Number  of  words  exposed . 

Total  noticed  by  24  persons . 

Average  number  noticed  per  person.. 
Percentage  noticed  per  person . 


It  is  seen  that  the  novelty  or  conspicuousness 
of  the  red  words  intermingled  with  the  ordinary 
black  words  draws  the  attention  predominantly 
to  the  red  ones. 

Many  mistakes  are  made  in  the  employment 
of  colored  inks  for  the  purpose  of  attracting 
the  attention  to  important  words  or  statements 
apparently  owing  to  a  lack  of  knowledge  of 
simple  facts  of  color  science.  For  example,  in 
an  advertising  pamphlet  the  text  was  printed 
predominantly  with  black  ink  upon  a  yellowish 
tinted  paper.  Here  and  there  statements  to  be 
emphasized  were  printed  with  an  orange  ink. 
Under  ordinary  artificial  illumination  those 
statements  printed  with  orange  ink  were  largely 
obliterated  owing  to  the  yellowish  hue  of  the 
illuminant,  with  the  result  that  a  bad  choice  of 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  215 


ink  defeated  the  intended  purpose  quite  com¬ 
pletely.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  even  after  the  at¬ 
tention  values  of  various  colors  have  been  de¬ 
termined  other  factors  also  must  be  considered 
or  difficulties  are  likely  to  be  encountered. 

It  may  be  of  interest  here  to  note  briefly 
certain  results  on  the  legibility  of  various  com¬ 
binations  of  colored  printing  reported  in  Le 
Courrier  du  Livre.  It  appears  that  the  best 
combination  for  reading  at  a  considerable  dis¬ 
tance  was  black  type  on  a  yellow  ground.  The 
familiar  black  on  white  combination  ranked 
sixth  with  the  following  combinations  interven¬ 
ing  in  their  order  of  legibility :  green  on  white, 
red  on  white,  blue  on  white,  and  white  on  blue. 
There  is  some  indication  that  considerable  con¬ 
trast  in  brightness  is  desirable  but  perhaps  not 
extreme  contrasts.  Of  course,  various  other 
factors,  which  cannot  be  discussed  here,  enter 
into  the  problem  of  legibility  at  a  distance. 
This  question  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  treatise 
but  this  brief  comment  has  appeared  of  interest. 


PART  IV 


ESTHETICS 


IF  the  language  of  color  ever  becomes  definite 
enough  and  the  understanding  of  it  becomes 
sufficiently  universal  to  encourage  its  applica¬ 
tion  as  an  independent  means  of  expression  in¬ 
stead  of  as  an  accompaniment  to  more  inter¬ 
pretable  languages  as  it  is  used  at  present,  it 
will  not  be  used  alone  to  express  the  beautiful 
but  also  the  disagreeable  and  the  unpleasant. 
At  the  present  time  color  is  used  chiefly  to 
beautify  and  by  its  harmonies  to  appeal  to  the 
esthetic  instinct.  It  is  true  that  it  is  not  always 
employed  as  a  drapery  for  enriching  or  beauti¬ 
fying  visual  impressions,  however,  our  chief  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  color  is  through  its  use  in  the 
arts,  both  pure  and  applied.  For  this  reason, 
we  are  inclined  to  relate  color  and  beauty  and 
most  of  our  knowledge  of  the  expressiveness  of 
color  gained  from  this  source  is,  therefore, 
prejudiced  by  this  natural  association ;  hence  in 
prolonging  this  discussion  of  the  language  of 
color  into  the  realm  of  art  we  must  expect  to 
gain  whatever  information  is  available  from  the 
esthetics  and  harmony  of  color.  It  is  well  that 
such  is  the  case  and  we  should  hope  that  the  aim 

219 


220  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


of  mankind  in  artistic  creation  will  continue  to 
be  the  introduction  of  the  beautiful  or  idealistic 
into  our  environment. 

To  obtain  a  proper  perspective  it  is  necessary 
to  understand  what  is  meant  by  such  terms  as 
art,  beauty  and  esthetic  pleasure  but  in  order 
not  to  digress  too  far  from  the  object  of  this 
brief  treatise  only  general  definitions  will  be 
presented.  Thus  sufficient  flexibility  will  be 
provided  for  the  reader  to  introduce  his  own 
ideas  regarding  these  matters  which  involve  so 
much  of  that  which  we  call  taste.  Owing  to  the 
fact  that  each  individual  differs  from  all  other 
individuals  because  of  the  differences  in  the 
chains  of  experiences  which  make  individuals 
what  they  are,  the  matter  of  taste  is  variable 
and  indeterminate.  Doubtless  all  persons  pos¬ 
sess  esthetic  instinct  to  a  slight  degree  at  least, 
and  there  are  certain  general  guiding  principles 
of  esthetics  which  all  would  agree  were  correct, 
but  when  the  element  of  taste  is  introduced  into 
a  problem  the  latter  becomes  indeterminate,  for 
no  solution  can  satisfy  every  individual.  If  in¬ 
flexible  definitions  of  art,  esthetics,  etc.,  were 
given,  or  if  they  were  qualified  by  discussions, 
necessarily  very  extensive,  we  would  find  our¬ 
selves  in  a  situation  aptly  described  by  Kipling 
thus : 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  221 


‘‘They  builded  a  tower  to  shiver  the  sky  and  wrench  the  stars 
apart, 

Till  the  Devil  grunted  behind  the  bricks:  ‘It’s  striking, 
but  is  it  art?’ 

The  stone  was  dropped  by  the  quarry-side,  and  the  idle 
derrick  swung, 

'While  each  man  talked  of  the  aims  of  art,  and  each  in 
an  alien  tongue.” 

Art  involves  the  representation  or  reproduc¬ 
tion  of  Nature,  the  emotions  of  the  artist,  and 
the  coordination  of  both  in  such  products  as 
music,  painting,  poetry,  sculpture,  and  architec¬ 
ture.  Its  aim  is  to  substitute  a  better,  richer, 
more  complete  and  harmonious  world  for  an  un¬ 
satisfactory  or  inadequate  reality.  It  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  a  demand  for  a  fairer  creation  than  that 
which  actually  exists,  the  ideal  being  one  of 
perfect  unity  and  harmony.  Esthetic  pleasure 
is  a  condition  resulting  from  unity  in  experience, 
for  if  the  latter  is  incomplete  it  conflicts  with 
other  experiences,  is  discordant,  and  conse¬ 
quently  is  not  pleasing. 

Beauty  is  a  characteristic  of  varied  elements 
which  are  unified,  complete  and  harmonious  in 
their  effects  upon  consciousness.  According  to 
Paulhan,  beauty  and  art  are  not  equivalent 
terms  though  the  experiences  are  often  inter¬ 
mingled.  Beauty  has  objective  standards  but 
art  is  primarily  an  attitude.  In  discussing  the 


222  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


problem  of  beauty  Miinsterberg  says:  “Corre¬ 
sponding  to  man’s  three  spheres  of  experience, 
to  the  outer  world,  to  other  individuals  and  to 
his  inner  personality,  there  are  different  forms 
of  esthetic  attitudes.  Music  expresses  the  har¬ 
mony  of  ourselves,  as  poetry  unveils  the  har¬ 
mony  of  mankind,  and  fine  art  the  harmony  of 
Nature.  In  literature  the  three  spheres  of  in¬ 
fluence  find  expression  as  epic,  drama,  and  lyric 
poetry.”  With  the  aid  of  the  foregoing  discus¬ 
sion,  the  reader  should  be  able  to  form  fairly 
definite  ideas  of  the  part  that  color  must  play 
in  esthetics. 

We  use  color  very  largely  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  variety  which  is  so  essential  to  a 
happy  existence.  Monotony  is  ever  a  mono¬ 
chrome  which  under  continued  adaptation  be¬ 
comes  colorless.  Variety  leads  us  contentedly 
through  a  colorful  sojourn;  monotony  condemns 
us  to  a  colorless  existence.  It  is  to  satisfy  this 
demand  for  variety  that  colors  are  employed  in 
objects.  For  the  same  reason,  various  colors 
used  harmoniously  please  more  than  a  single 
color  with  the  result  that  we  have  about  us  many 
colors  in  rugs,  paintings,  furniture,  wall-cover¬ 
ings,  and  wearing  apparel,  which  are  blended  in 
varying  degrees  of  harmony  depending  upon 
the  sensibility  and  skill  of  those  responsible. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  223 


It  is  wrong  to  consider  that  such  arrangements 
which  give  esthetic  pleasure  are  merely  beauti¬ 
ful  because  beauty  is  also  useful.  Many  of  the 
accessory  parts  of  architecture,  the  colors  of 
furnishings,  etc.,  are  primarily  ornamental,  but 
they  are  also  useful.  The  truth  of  this  state¬ 
ment  is  realized  if  we  pause  and  imagine  all  the 
beauty  suddenly  eliminated  from  the  world  leav¬ 
ing  us  to  live  in  an  environment  consisting  of 
the  manifestly  useful.  It  may  appear  that  this 
is  a  digression  from  the  subject  but  these  as¬ 
pects  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized  before 
beginning  a  discussion  of  the  esthetics  of  color. 
These  arguments  apply  equally  well  to  all 
things  capable  of  providing  variety  which  is  so 
essential  in  producing  esthetic  pleasure.  Color 
is  one  of  these. 

The  esthetic  significance  of  color  was  recog¬ 
nized  many  centuries  ago.  Xenophon,  in  the 
Memorabilia,  reports  a  conversation  between 
Socrates  and  Parrhasius  in  which  the  esthetic 
value  of  color  is  shown  to  have  been  appre¬ 
ciated  by  the  early  Greeks.  Plato  also  dis¬ 
cusses  the  beauty  and  symbolism  of  color  and 
reveals  his  acquaintance  with  its  ability  to  ex¬ 
cite  emotional  responses.  Plotinus  and  other 
early  writers  also  touched  upon  color  as  an  ele¬ 
ment  of  beauty.  However,  not  until  a  compara- 


224  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


tively  recent  period  has  color  been  discussed 
sufficiently  in  connection  with  esthetic  principles 
to  be  helpful  to  any  great  extent.  Allen,  Dar¬ 
win,  Fechner  and  others  have  tried  to  account 
for  the  esthetic  value  of  color  by  means  of 
association  and  various  factors  which  influence 
the  survival  of  the  individual  and  the  species 
in  the  evolution  of  the  race.  Notwithstanding 
all  that  has  been  written  there  is  only  a  scanty 
literature  which  treats  of  the  esthetics  of  color 
apart  from  the  theories  of  esthetics. 

In  discussing  the  part  that  association  plays 
in  esthetics  Baldwin  says:  “As  an  esthetic 
principle,  association  is  used  to  explain  esthetic 
value  by  deriving  the  pleasure  felt  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  the  beautiful  or  sublime,  not  directly 
from  the  form  or  constitution  of  the  object  as 
such,  nor  from  the  sensation  it  excites,  but  from 
the  recall  or  revival  of  pleasure  previously  ex¬ 
perienced  in  connection  with  the  same  or  a  re¬ 
lated  object  or  quality;  e.  g.,  red  cheeks  suggest 
youth  and  health,  and  are  beautiful;  red  hands 
suggest  disagreeable  labor,  and  are  ugly.  ’  ’  The 
same  idea  can  be  applied  in  many  of  our  en¬ 
counters  with  color. 

Beauty  in  color  appears  to  depend  upon  the 
taste  and  intellectual  development  of  the  be¬ 
holder;  in  fact,  upon  his  state  of  civilization. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  225 


Primitive  beings  prefer  gaudy  and  brilliant  col¬ 
ors  about  them,  while  intellectual  and  cultured 
beings  choose  the  subdued  tints  and  shades. 
However,  there  is  evidence  that  our  taste  for 
color  alone  differs  little  from  that  of  the  child 
and  savage.  "When  the  influences  of  environ¬ 
ment  and  association  are  minimized  or  elim¬ 
inated  entirely  we  prefer  pure  colors  more  than 
the  tints  and  shades ;  that  is,  the  pure  colors  are 
most  agreeable.  This  is  seen  to  coincide  with 
the  preferences  of  primitive  intellects  and  in¬ 
dicates  that  after  all  there  may  be  little  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  absolute  experiences  of  human 
beings. 

Our  use  of  colors  in  the  decoration  of  things 
about  us  does  not  coincide  with  the  preferences 
which  we  exhibit  for  colors  viewed  apart  from 
ordinary  environment  and  in  the  absence  of  as¬ 
sociation.  In  civilized  art,  colors  are  subdued, 
the  tints  and  shades,  rather  than  the  pure  colors, 
occupying  the  predominating  areas.  It  is  only 
possible  to  account  for  this  difference  by  at¬ 
tributing  it  to  the  influences  of  environment  and 
association.  After  all,  is  not  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  primitive  and  the  highly  civilized 
being  represented  in  their  respective  abilities 
or  tendencies  to  connect  various  experiences  by 
what  we  term  association?  If  this  argument 


226  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


is  sustained,  it  is  indeed  very  interesting  and 
important  to  be  able  to  conclude  that  the  abso¬ 
lute  experiences  of  color  are  not  greatly  dif¬ 
ferent  for  beings  of  all  degrees  of  civilization. 
Systematic  experiments  on  color  preference 
with  primitive  beings  would  be  of  interest  from 
this  viewpoint. 

Although,  in  general,  pure  colors  are  always 
more  agreeable  than  slightly  saturated  colors, 
it  is  contended  by  some  that  green  and  violet 
reach  their  highest  degree  of  agreeableness 
when  not  fully  saturated.  Field  has  stated  that 
those  colors  which  are  naturally  of  high  lumi¬ 
nosity  have  their  greatest  beauty  in  their  lighter 
tints,  and  those  which  are  naturally  of  low  lumi¬ 
nosity  are  most  beautiful  when  highly  saturated. 
Experiments  do  not  indicate  this  to  be  true, 
although  there  appears  to  be  a  tendency  in 
this  direction  as  will  be  seen  by  the  data  on 
color  preference  presented  in  another  chapter. 
These  data  on  color  preference  which  have  an 
intimate  relation  with  the  esthetic  aspect  should 
be  considered  in  connection  with  the  present  dis¬ 
cussion. 

Color,  to  be  most  effective  generally,  must 
occupy  large  areas.  In  a  natural  landscape  the 
colors  which  occupy  relatively  large  areas  of 
the  visual  field  usually  have  the  greatest  in- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  227 


fluence  upon  most  persons.  It  is  true  that 
small  spots  of  brilliant  color  usually  attract  the 
attention  owing  to  the  extreme  contrast,  how¬ 
ever,  these  are  usually  lost  in  the  general  view. 
Similarly  in  interior  decoration  or  in  a  paint¬ 
ing  the  general  color  scheme  is  particularly 
influential  and  lasting  in  the  memory  of  the 
beholder.  The  roving  eye  may  be  halted  mo¬ 
mentarily  by  a  relatively  small  spot  of  different 
color  but  the  latter  usually  will  be  quickly  for¬ 
gotten  as  the  eye  passes  on.  It  serves  chiefly 
as  a  punctuation  mark  in  enabling  the  beholder 
to  appreciate  the  general  tone  of  color.  In 
other  words,  in  the  esthetics  of  color  all  the 
colors  of  the  ensemble  play  parts  but  these  dif¬ 
fer  considerably  from  each  other  depending 
upon  the  areas  involved  as  well  as  upon  the 
colors  themselves.  Therefore  esthetic  pleasure, 
in  most  oases,  is  the  result  of  the  entire  ensem¬ 
ble  in  which  the  colors  of  the  predominant  areas 
are  most  directly  influential. 

Color  is  seen  at  the  same  time  as  form  but 
form  is  usually  revealed  by  light  and  shade  to 
a  much  greater  extent  than  by  color.  The  gen¬ 
eral  office  of  color  is  to  supply  the  drapery.  It 
aids  to  a  relatively  slight  degree  in  revealing 
form,  but  serves  chiefly  in  imparting  an  agree¬ 
able  aspect  to  objects,  in  augmenting  relief  to 


228  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


some  extent,  and  in  many  cases  in  providing  the 
variety  so  much  evidenced  in  our  desire  to  have 
patterns  in  wall  coverings,  rugs,  and  other 
surroundings. 

The  esthetics  of  color  arrangement  can  be 
studied  experimentally  with  convincing  results, 
however,  this  is  the  work  of  the  trained  investi¬ 
gator.  Painters,  decorators  and  others  whose 
work  primarily  involves  the  esthetics  and  har¬ 
mony  of  color  may  contend  that  such  work  lies 
entirely  within  their  province  but  such  is  not 
the  case.  These  artists  have  the  ability  to 
harmonize  color  in  a  resulting  unity  which  gives 
esthetic  pleasure  but  if  they  attempt  to  write 
the  formulae  by  means  of  which  harmonious  re¬ 
sults  can  be  obtained  their  descriptions  often 
become  so  involved  and  swamped  in  words  as  to 
leave  the  reader  bewildered.  This  is  the  natural 
result  of  attempts  to  draw  conclusions  from 
specific  practical  cases  in  which  the  many  fac¬ 
tors  have  not  been  controlled. 

For  this  reason  many  artists  contend  that, 
aside  from  a  few  general  principles  of  color 
harmony,  the  realization  of  satisfactory  color 
arrangements  depends  upon  an  esthetic  instinct. 
The  attitude  of  science  is  naturally  that  the 
facts  of  esthetics  are  discoverable.  In  the 
presence  of  knowledge  mysteries  of  yesterday 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  229 


become  commonplace  simplicities  to-day,  but 
knowledge  consists  merely  of  the  orderly  sepa¬ 
ration  and  coordination  of  simple  facts.  It  is 
true  that,  in  order  to  produce  an  esthetic  ar¬ 
rangement  of  colors,  a  degree  of  feeling  and 
that  which  we  may  call  instinct,  must  be  pos¬ 
sessed  by  the  successful  artist.  Esthetic  in¬ 
stinct  is  doubtless  an  unconscious  possession  of 
certain  knowledge  which  it  is  the  aim  of  science 
to  analyze. 

There  are  few  analytical  data  available  which 
shed  light  upon  the  problem  of  the  esthetics  of 
color.  Like  many  other  problems  discussed  in 
this  book,  this  is  included  in  the  unexplored 
region  which  must  be  invaded  eventually  by  the 
psychologist.  That  the  problems  can  be  at¬ 
tacked  successfully  by  controlled  experiments 
upon  a  large  group  of  subjects  has  been  shown 
by  the  results  already  obtained  in  the  few 
scattering  experiments.  In  order  to  illustrate 
a  case  and  to  present  the  data  which  were  ob¬ 
tained,  an  investigation  by  Miss  Kate  Gordon 
on  the  esthetics  of  color  arrangement  will  be 
discussed. 

The  problem  was  suggested  by  one  of  the 
many  questions  which  arise  in  the  use  of  color, 
this  one  being  as  follows:  “In  massing  colors 
on  a  canvas  is  there  any  general  reason  for 


230  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


placing  certain  colors  near  the  center  and  others 
near  the  outside'?”  She  used  various  symmet¬ 
rical  designs,  and  it  is  thus  seen  that  other 


factors  besides  color  must  be  contended  with, 
even  in  controlled  experiments.  Form  is  al¬ 
most  always  an  accompanying  factor  from 
which  there  is  no  escape.  Certain  problems  of 
symmetry  entered  the  problem  which  will  not  be 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  231 


discussed  here.  In  Fig.  5  are  shown  the  designs 
used  in  the  experiments.  Preliminary  tests 
were  made  with  colors  arranged  as  in  design, 
a,  in  which  a  central  square  was  surrounded  by 
four  rectangular  areas,  the  total  area  of  which 
equaled  that  of  the  central  square.  One  color 
occupied  the  central  square  and  another  the 
rectangular  areas.  This  design  proved  unsatis¬ 
factory  because  the  figure  as  a  whole  was  unin¬ 
teresting  and  ungraceful  and  because  the  cen¬ 
tral  color  was  disliked  on  account  of  its  un¬ 
broken  mass.  It  was  necessary  to  introduce 
more  complexity  into  the  design  in  order  to 
obtain  an  unquestioned  esthetic  relation. 

The  researches  of  Pierce  and  of  Puffer  indi¬ 
cated  that,  since  colors  of  different  brightness 
were  to  be  used,  a  contrast  of  small  and  large 
masses  would  be  desirable.  The  colors  used 
were  highly  saturated  red,  yellow,  green  and 
blue  and  these  were  illuminated  by  daylight. 
The  chief  designs  used  are  shown  in  b,  c,  and  d. 
In  b  and  c  it  is  seen  that  the  outer  and  inner 
triangular  areas  were  merely  reversed;  in  d 
these  were  of  equal  areas.  In  all  cases,  sets  of 
observations  were  made  with  two  different  col¬ 
ors,  occupying  the  inner  and  outer  triangles 
respectively.  In  the  next  set  the  colors  were 
exchanged.  Six  combinations  of  colors  were 


232  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


used,  namely,  blue-yellow,  red-green,  blue-red, 
green-yellow,  blue-green,  red-yellow. 

The  background  was  varied  from  nearly  black 
to  a  light  gray  for  corresponding  complete  sets 
of  combinations.  In  a  single  set  of  experi¬ 
ments  four  frames  were  used,  two  of  design  b 
and  two  of  c.  These  four  frames  containing 
only  two  different  colors  were  presented  to  each 
observer  simultaneously.  Thus  for  a  given 
case  the  observer  saw  blue  in  the  center  of  de¬ 
sign  b,  and  yellow  in  the  outer  triangles  and 
also  in  the  same  design  yellow  in  the  center  and 
blue  in  the  outer  triangles.  The  same  was  true 
of  the  other  two  frames  containing  design  c. 
After  the  frames  were  presented  to  the  ob¬ 
server  the  subjects  were  not  restricted  in  any 
way  in  their  choice  of  the  most  esthetic  ar¬ 
rangement.  They  were  merely  asked  to  re¬ 
cord  the  preference  order.  The  subjects  were 
groups  of  young  women  (college  students) 
varying  in  number. 

It  was  found  that  the  choice  of  colors  for  the 
central  regions  seemed  to  be  a  function  of  their 
brightness  and  further  experiments  were  con¬ 
ducted  with  the  two  colors  of  approximately 
equal  brightnesses.  Design  d  was  used,  thus 
eliminating  the  factor  of  unequal  area  as  well 
as  that  of  unequal  brightness,  for  the  triangles 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  233 


in  this  design  were  of  equal  areas.  The  total 
number  of  preferences  for  designs  having  red 
in  the  center  were  72 ;  yellow  59 ;  green  45 ;  blue 
28.  The  preference  for  the  warmer  colors  in 
the  center  was  very  marked  in  all  combinations 
of  color  for  these  patterns. 

A  summary  of  the  interesting  results  is  as 
follows : 

(1)  When  large  and  small  masses  of  color 
appear  together  it  is  more  agreeable  to  find  the 
large  ones  in  the  periphery  of  the  visual  field. 

(2)  Brighter  colors  are  preferred  near  the 
center  of  such  figures  and  darker  ones  near  the 
periphery,  whether  the  background  of  the  colors 
is  light  or  dark. 

(3)  In  figures  where  central  and  peripheral 
masses  are  equal  in  size,  and  where  a  light  back¬ 
ground  is  surrounded  by  a  black  frame,  a  dark 
color  is  preferred  in  the  center. 

(4)  There  is  probably  some  tendency  to  pre¬ 
fer  large  masses  of  a  favorite  color,  but  this 
tendency  does  not  prevail  over  other  considera¬ 
tions. 

(5)  When  colors  are  equated  in  brightness 
the  color  which  stands  nearer  the  red  end  of  the 
spectrum  is  preferred  in  the  center. 

Obviously  these  results  are  strictly  applicable 
only  to  the  designs  used,  but  their  usefulness 


234  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


can  be  extended  to  some  extent  with  safety. 
The  results  are  not  only  interesting  in  them¬ 
selves,  but  also  in  general  as  an  illustration  of 
the  vulnerability  of  the  problem  of  the  esthetics 
of  color.  Obviously  a  great  number  of  experi¬ 
ments  must  be  performed  before  the  general 
laws  of  the  esthetics  of  color  are  laid  bare.  The 
field  is  inviting  to  the  investigator  and  is  one 
that  promises  to  yield  much  of  interest.  The 
accumulation  of  such  knowledge  does  not  jeop¬ 
ardize  the  usefulness  of  the  artist,  for  his  fine 
sensibility  and  creative  ability  must  always  be 
depended  upon  to  supply  the  beautiful  arrange¬ 
ments  of  color.  However,  science  is  curious, 
and  this  curiosity  is  responsible  for  much  of 
the  progress  of  mankind.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
artist  will  welcome  such  investigations  because 
knowledge  will  do  no  harm.  In  the  meantime 
the  artist  can  progress  as  he  has  in  the  past. 


HARMONY 


WE  enjoy  color  independently  of  design 
or  of  association  with  the  object  upon 
which  it  occurs,  but  usually  most  of  our  pleasure 
derived  from  color  is  dependent  upon  the  spa¬ 
tial  relation  of  various  colors  viewed  simultan¬ 
eously.  When  an  arrangement  of  colors  is 
pleasing  it  is  said  to  be  a  color-harmony.  Why 
certain  combinations  of  colors  are  agreeable  and 
others  are  disagreeable  or  even  shocking  to  the 
finer  sensibilities  is  a  question  which  is  yet  to  be 
answered.  It  is  the  aim  of  this  book  to  contri¬ 
bute  slightly  at  least  toward  the  answer  to  this 
question  but  the  available  knowledge  of  the  psy¬ 
chology  of  color  dwindles  almost  into  insignif¬ 
icance  when  it  is  approached  with  the  purpose 
of  seeking  an  answer  to  this  and  many  other 
questions.  There  is  no  doubt  that  contrasts  of 
hue,  of  brightness  and  of  areas,  as  well  as  sym¬ 
metry,  balance,  and  arrangement  in  general  are 
important  factors  in  the  appeal  of  combina¬ 
tions  of  color  to  the  human  sensibility.  Fur¬ 
thermore,  association,  environment,  training, 
temperament,  and,  perhaps,  heredity  are  in¬ 
fluences  of  more  or  less  importance. 

235 


236  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


In  most  discussions  of  the  harmony  of  color 
certain  laws  of  harmony  are  presented.  These 
are  usually  the  identical,  or  slightly  modified 
laws  which  were  enunciated  by  Chevreul,  the 
French  chemist,  who,  in  his  life  of  more  than 
one  hundred  years,  contributed  much  experi¬ 
mental  data  of  interest  in  the  combination  of 
colors.  These  laws,  however,  are  meant  to  be 
mere  guideposts  and  are  not  to  be  taken  as 
distinct  boundaries  of  the  different  classes  of 
color-harmonies.  In  fact,  a  given  harmonious 
arrangement  may  not  be  in  accordance  with 
any  single  principle,  but  is  likely  to  involve 
more  than  one.  No  simple  laws  of  color-har¬ 
mony  can  be  framed  which  will  be  separated  by 
distinct  boundary  lines.  Furthermore,  when 
other  factors  are  considered  such  as  the  in¬ 
definiteness  of  the  nomenclature  of  color,  the 
indeterminateness  of  individual  taste,  and  the 
meagemess  of  data,  it  must  be  concluded  that 
these  laws  of  color-harmony  can  be  viewed  at 
present  only  as  general  statements.  They  will 
not  become  more  specific  until  the  accumulation 
of  knowledge  has  made  this  simplification  pos¬ 
sible  and  doubtless  will  never  be  expressible 
with  exactitude.  It  is  not  intended  that  the 
foregoing  statements  should  discourage  the  use 
of  these  general  laws,  or  the  establishment  of 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  237 


others  as  the  knowledge  of  color-liarmony  ac¬ 
cumulates,  but  they  should  serve  to  caution 
those  who  take  these  laws  too  seriously  at 
present. 

The  difficulty  which  is  met  in  pressing  the  use 
of  laws  of  color  harmony  too  far  is  exemplified 
by  considering  the  tastes  of  the  savage  and  of 
the  civilized  being.  An  arrangement  of  color 
which  delights  the  former  is  likely  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  garish  by  the  latter.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  coloring  of  a  Corot,  Whistler,  or 
Turner  will  please  the  civilized  being,  but  will 
be  found  unsatisfactory  or  uninteresting  by  the 
primitive  being.  A  color-harmony  must  arouse 
a  feeling  of  completeness.  In  the  foregoing 
cases  the  color  arrangements  may  not  trans¬ 
gress  the  laws  of  harmony,  but  still  may  be  un¬ 
satisfactory,  incomplete,  or  unharmonious  de¬ 
pending  upon  the  taste  of  the  beholder.  It  may 
be  considered  folly  to  judge  the  laws  of  color- 
harmony  enunciated  by  civilized  man  by  means 
of  the  judgment  of  the  savage.  However,  this 
illustrates  the  relation  of  taste  to  the  problem 
and,  inasmuch  as  civilized  tastes  vary  so  widely, 
that  of  the  savage  may  be  considered  as  merely 
one  extreme. 

Inasmuch  as  certain  phenomena  of  color,  such 
as  the  spectrum,  figure  prominently  in  discus- 


238  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


sions  of  the  harmony  of  color,  it  is  of  interest 
to  consider  how  far  such  phenomena  which  are 
associated  more  particularly  with  the  science 
of  color  can  be  depended  upon  in  forming  a 
basis  for  the  laws  of  color-harmony.  The  artist 
does  not  generally  avail  himself  sufficiently  of 
the  aid  which  science  can  render,  yet  when  he 
does  attempt  to  do  so  he  is  likely  to  err  owing 
to  a  lack  of  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  vari¬ 
ous  related  aspects  of  the  subject.  Science 
would  attack  the  subject  of  color-harmony  by 
initiating  a  painstaking  study  of  various  com¬ 
binations  of  color  with  many  human  subjects 
and  the  experiments  would  be  subjected  to  all 
the  controls  possible.  This  is  investigation. 
However,  when  the  artist  grasps  certain  phe¬ 
nomena,  such  as  the  sequence  of  colors  in  the 
spectrum,  or  certain  relations  such  as  com¬ 
plementary  colors  upon  which  to  base  his  laws 
of  color-harmony,  he  is  working  largely  in  an 
opposite  direction.  He  connects  his  ideas  of 
color-harmony  or  taste  for  color-arrangement 
with  these  phenomena.  In  such  a  procedure  he 
is  investigating  to  some  degree,  but  he  is  chiefly 
theorizing.  An  open  mind  will  consider  the 
harmonious  effects  of  color  not  to  be  necessarily 
related  to  the  sequence  of  spectral  colors  and 
to  other  facts  which  are  accidental  as  far  as  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  239 


human  intellect  is  concerned.  If,  however,  there 
appears  to  be  a  relation  between  the  colors 
which  produce  harmonious  combinations  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  colors  in  the  spectrum,  the 
complementary  colors,  or  any  other  fact  of  the 
science  of  color,  these  can  then  be  united  as  a 
foundation  for  laws  or  theories.  The  impor¬ 
tant  point  is  that  this  relation  must  be  first 
established  by  a  consensus  of  opinion  of  those 
qualified  to  pass  judgment.  Certain  relations 
of  this  sort  appear  to  be  evident  and,  therefore, 
the  statement  of  laws  based  upon  them  is 
justifiable. 

Chevreul  divided  color-harmonies  into  two 
general  classes,  namely,  harmonies  of  analogous 
colors  and  harmonies  of  contrast,  and  each  of 
these  he  sub-divided  into  three  kinds.  He  used 
the  words  “tone”  and  “scale,”  so  it  appears 
best  to  retain  them  in  the  statement  of  these 
laws,  but  to  explain  what  he  meant  by  them. 
The  tones  of  a  color  (a  pigment)  designate  the 
different  modifications  which  that  col-or,  taken 
at  its  maximum  purity,  is  capable  of  receiving 
from  the  addition  of  white  (which  weakens  its 
tone)  and  of  black  (which  deepens  it).  The 
term,  therefore,  includes  both  tints  and  shades. 
The  word  “scale”  is  applied  to  the  collection 
of  tones  of  the  same  color  thus  modified.  The 


240  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


pure  color  is  the  normal  tone  of  the  scale,  if  this 
normal  tone  does  not  belong  to  a  broken  or 
reduced  scale,  that  is,  to  a  scale  all  the  tones  of 
which  are  altered  with  black. 

The  laws  of  color-harmony  as  originally 
enunciated  by  Chevreul  are  as  follows : 

Harmonies  of  Analogy. 

1.  The  harmony  of  scale,  produced  by  the 
simultaneous  view  of  different  tones  of  a  single 
scale,  more  or  less  approximating. 

2.  The  harmony  of  hues,  produced  by  the 
simultaneous  view  of  tones  of  the  same  height 
(degree),  or  nearly  so,  belonging  to  scales  more 
or  less  approximating. 

3.  The  harmony  of  dominant  hue,  produced 
by  the  simultaneous  view  of  different  colors 
assorted  conformably  to  the  law  of  contrast, 
but  one  of  them  predominating,  as  would  result 
from  seeing  these  colors  through  a  tinted  glass 
of  this  dominant  hue. 

Harmonies  of  Contrasts. 

4.  The  harmony  of  contrast  of  scale,  produced 
by  the  simultaneous  view  of  two  tones  of  the 
same  scale,  very  distant  from  each  other. 

5.  The  harmony  of  contrast  of  hues,  produced 
by  the  simultaneous  view  of  tones  of  different 
height,  each  belonging  to  contiguous  scales. 

6.  The  harmony  of  contrast  of  colors,  pro- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  241 


duced  by  the  simultaneous  view  of  colors  be¬ 
longing  to  scales  very  far  apart,  assorted  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  law  of  contrast:  the  difference 
in  height  of  juxtaposed  colors  may  also  augment 
the  contrast  of  colors. 

It  is  seen  that  these  laws  are  only  meant  to 
be  very  general  by  the  looseness  of  their  con¬ 
struction.  Each  deals  with  a  specific  relation, 
but  the  limits  of  its  jurisdiction  are  not  and 
cannot  be  accurately  defined.  Harmonies  en¬ 
countered  in  practice  will  be  found  difficult  to 
analyze  exactly  in  terms  of  a  single  law  and 
in  the  case  of  more  than  one  law  being  involved 
it  is  impossible  to  analyze  them  with  accuracy. 
However,  these  six  laws  are  extremely  useful 
in  practice  and  in  analysis  and  both  science  and 
art  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Chevreul  for  in¬ 
jecting  a  degree  of  systematic  procedure  into 
the  arrangement  of  colors  into  harmonious 
combinations. 

The  author  refrains  from  departing  from  a 
general  discussion  of  this  subject  or  from  the 
treatment  of  color-harmony  as  related  to  science 
or  to  fairly  well  established  laws  and  principles, 
because  the  only  remaining  procedure  would  be 
to  expound  his  own  ideas  of  color-harmony. 
The  latter  treatment  would  merely  add  one 
more  opinion  to  those  already  expressed  by 


242  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


others  who  have  written  upon  the  same  subject. 
The  present  need  is  not  for  another  dissertation 
upon  a  single  individual’s  idea  of  color-harmony 
which  would  include  descriptions  of  specific 
arrangements  of  colors.  If  a  description  of 
such  arrangements,  which  were  approved  by  a 
large  majority  of  persons  capable  of  passing 
judgment,  could  be  presented  it  would  be  a 
valuable  contribution.  In  fact  it  would  be  pos¬ 
sible  from  these  to  construct  more  specific  laws 
of  color-harmony.  A  general  criticism  of  the 
writings  on  this  subject  is  that  they  represent  in 
most  cases  largely  the  ideas  of  individuals  and 
often  these  are  interwoven  with  a  great  amount 
of  very  bad  theory.  It  has  been  the  aim 
throughout  this  book  to  remain  as  close  as  pos¬ 
sible  to  indisputable  facts  or,  at  least,  to  ideas 
that  are  generally  accepted  as  sound. 

If  the  spectrum  be  closely  observed  it  will  be 
seen  to  represent  a  sequence  of  hues  blending 
into  each  other  with  imperceptible  nuances. 
For  this  reason  it  is  logical  to  use  it  as  a  por¬ 
tion  of  the  foundation  of  laws  of  color-harmony 
based  on  analogy,  however,  the  purples  must  be 
accounted  for  in  some  manner  because  they  do 
not  exist  in  the  spectrum.  This  is  easily  ac¬ 
complished  by  bending  the  spectrum  (in  the 
imagination)  around  the  circumference  of  a 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  243 


circle  permitting  it  to  occupy,  say  three  fourths 
of  the  periphery.  The  remaining  gap  between 
the  violet  and  red  is  then  filled  with  the  purples, 
the  violet-purple  being  next  to  the  violet  and 
the  red-purple  adjacent  to  the  red  portion  of 
the  spectrum.  This  has  been  called  the  color- 
circle  and  has  formed  the  basis  of  many  dis¬ 
cussions  of  color-harmony.  It  is  seen  that  any 
small  portion  of  the  circumference  is  occupied 
by  a  sequence  of  colors  differing  only  slightly 
in  hue. 

Various  solids  such  as  the  sphere  and  modi¬ 
fications  of  it  have  been  used  to  provide  places 
for  the  tints  and  shades  as  well  as  for  the  pure 
colors  and  these  solids  have  played  conspicuous 
parts  in  developing  rules  for  color-harmony. 
Such  efforts  are  very  commendable  because  they 
rescue  the  application  of  color  from  a  condi¬ 
tion  of  anarchy  and  provide  at  least  a  systematic 
procedure  for  the  use  of  color.  It  is  needless 
to  illustrate  these  here  because  they  can  be  found 
elsewhere.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  that 
in  the  case  of  the  color-sphere  the  equator  is 
in  reality  the  color-circle  composed  of  the 
spectral  hues  and  the  purples;  the  poles  are 
respectively  white  and  black;  the  polar  axis 
represents  a  scale  of  grays;  tints  occupy  one 
hemisphere  and  shades  the  other. 


244  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


If  the  color-circle  be  drawn  as  described 
above  it  will  be  seen  that  various  diameters 
have,  at  their  ends,  colors  which  are  approxi¬ 
mately  complementary.  This  diagrammatic 
fact  is  also  incorporated  into  rules  of  color-har¬ 
mony  based  upon  the  color-circle  or  the  color- 
sphere.  Incidentally,  it  is  fairly  well  accepted 
that  complementary  colors  under  certain  condi¬ 
tions  are  harmonious  combinations  especially 
when  one  color  is  used  sparingly  in  area  relative 
to  the  area  occupied  by  the  other. 

In  experiments  conducted  by  the  author  on 
color  preference  with  a  group  of  subjects  with 
fifteen  fairly  pure  colors,  the  subjects  were  asked 
to  pair  the  colors  in  the  most  pleasing  combina¬ 
tions  and  to  indicate  their  preference  order. 
For  example,  the  colors,  which  were  each  four 
inches  square,  were  spread  upon  the  table  and 
the  subject  was  asked  to  choose  the  most  agree¬ 
able  pair,  completely  eliminating,  if  possible, 
such  factors  as  association.  After  the  pair  was 
noted  the  colors  were  placed  again  among  the 
others  and  a  second  choice  was  made,  no  restric¬ 
tion  being  made  upon  the  number  of  times  a 
color  could  be  used  in  successive  combinations. 
This  was  continued  until  each  subject  had  made 
a  list  of  ten  choices  in  the  order  of  preference. 
On  inspecting  these  data  it  was  found  that  about 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  245 


fifty  per  cent,  of  the  chosen  combinations  were 
approximately  complementary  and  in  very  few 
choices  were  the  two  colors  closely  related  in 
the  spectrum  or  color-circle.  Such  data  will 
eventually  provide  a  sound  basis  upon  which  to 
construct  certain  laws  of  color-harmony,  but 
only  meager  data  are  available  at  present.  It  is 
true  that  our  ordinary  uses  of  colors  are  modi¬ 
fied  by  environment,  pattern,  spatial  relation 
and  many  other  factors  so  that  such  data  are 
not  directly  applicable  to  practice.  However, 
the  conclusions  reached  from  ordinary  usage 
of  color  are  equally  open  to  criticism  because  of 
the  many  uncontrolled  factors  involved.  In 
fact,  we  must  ultimately  take  into  account  the 
data  obtained  from  both  sources  and  in  the 
meantime  hope  that  critical  analysis  will  be 
applied  to  the  conditions  in  all  cases  which  are 
studied. 

A  large  number  of  color-charts  designed  as 
foundations  for  color-harmony,  when  used  in 
accordance  with  certain  rules  accompanying 
them,  are  available  to  those  interested  in  this 
aspect  of  color.  Some  of  these  are  very  com¬ 
mendable  and  doubtless  have  served  both  the 
student  and  artist  very  well.  Most  of  these  are 
based  on  the  color-circle  or  on  the  color-sphere 
more  or  less  modified.  These  are  simple  and 


246  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


readily  understood  because  they  are  based  on 
sequences  in  hues,  tints  and  shades  and  upon 
the  complementary  colors.  Some  colorists  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  apply  quantitative  formulae  to 
the  construction  of  color-harmonies — a  hazard¬ 
ous  and  confusing  procedure  when  it  is  consid¬ 
ered  that  there  are  hundreds  of  pigments  avail¬ 
able  in  the  market. 

Many  of  these  schemes  contain  a  great  deal 
of  unsound  reasoning.  For  example,  Field  at¬ 
tempts  to  demonstrate  the  proportional  powers 
of  colors  numerically  and  gives  formula3  for 
combining  colors  harmoniously.  These  rules 
are  open  to  criticism  from  many  viewpoints. 
Colors  are  not  specifically  designated  when 
given  merely  a  name  such  as  red.  There  are 
many  red  pigments  available  and  their  spectral 
compositions  vary  so  widely  that  far  different 
results  are  obtained  when  mixed  with  another 
color.  Furthermore,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  pigments  when  mixed  involve  the  subtrac¬ 
tive  principle  of  color-mixture  but  colors  when 
viewed  involve,  to  a  degree  at  least,  the  additive 
principle.  It  is  futile  to  attempt  to  criticize 
these  various  methods.  Instead  it  is  recom¬ 
mended  that  those  interested  in  the  applications 
of  color,  study  the  science  of  the  subject  and 
they  will  then  be  able  to  judge  the  various  pro- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  247 


posals  for  themselves.  There  is  much  of  value 
in  many  of  them,  but  none  can  be  satisfactory 
unless  it  conforms  to  the  facts  of  the  science  of 
color-mixture  and  of  various  other  aspects. 

The  great  colorists  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  science  of  color.  The  writings  of  Leonardo 
da  Vinci  contain  many  pleas  for  a  greater  un¬ 
derstanding  of  this  aspect  of  color  on  the  part 
of  those  engaged  in  the  artistic  use  of  color. 
This  was  recognized  by  such  men  centuries  ago 
when  the  science  of  color  was  not  well  under¬ 
stood.  To-day  the  physics  of  color  is  well  de¬ 
veloped  so  that  colorists  now  have  a  great  ad¬ 
vantage  over  those  of  past  centuries.  The  atti¬ 
tude  of  the  experienced  and  successful  colorist 
is  expressed  by  Mengs  as  follows:  “I  know 
not  if  lessons  on  coloring  have  ever  been  given, 
notwithstanding  it  is  a  part  so  principal  that  it 
has  its  rules  founded  on  science  and  reason. 
Without  such  a  study  it  is  impossible  that  youth 
can  acquire  a  good  taste  in  coloring  or  under¬ 
stand  harmony.”  The  author  can  supplement 
this  from  his  own  small  acquaintance  with  art¬ 
ists,  for  those  who  are  interested  in  and  familiar 
with  the  science  of  color  make  excellent  use  of 
this  knowledge  in  their  application  of  color 
both  in  painting  and  in  decoration.  It  is  un¬ 
fortunate  that  students  of  color-harmony  are 


248  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


not  more  seriously  encouraged  to  study  the  sci¬ 
ence  by  giving  them  the  opportunity  to  view 
some  of  its  wonders  at  the  beginning  of  their 
career  in  color. 

Field  and  others  have  proposed  that  a  com¬ 
bination  of  colors  is  harmonious  when  the  col¬ 
ors  are  opposed  to  each  other  in  “equivalent 
proportions  chromatically,  or  in  such  propor¬ 
tions  as  neutralize  their  individual  activities.” 
Some  have  carried  this  idea  so  far  as  to  contend 
that  a  color-combination  is  harmonious  when 
the  combined  sensations  of  the  different  colors 
would  produce  a  neutral  gray  if  they  could  be 
summated.  A  little  reflection  shows  that  this 
is  incorrect  for  most  “harmonies  of  analogy” 
would  thus  fail  to  be  harmonies.  None  who 
possesses  a  fair  knowdedge  of  the  science  of 
color,  will  be  misled  by  the  many  incorrect  prem¬ 
ises  found  in  such  writings. 

Nature  is  sometimes  taken  as  the  standard 
chart  of  color-harmonies  and  incongruities  in 
its  color-scheme,  as  viewed  from  a  particular 
hypothesis  of  color-harmony,  are  excused  or 
explained  in  some  manner.  Doubtless  our  es¬ 
thetic  taste  has  been  greatly  influenced  by  our 
natural  environment  but  it  is  unnecessary  to 
believe  that  Nature’s  color-schemes  are  invari¬ 
ably  faultless.  We  are  sentimental  toward  Na- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  249 


ture  and  are  likely  to  draw  upon  sentiment  in 
our  defense  of  these  incongruities.  This  re¬ 
sults  in  conclusions  which  are  obviously  of 
doubtful  value. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  many  mistakes  are 
made  by  a  purely  superficial  analysis  of  the 
colors  employed.  For  example,  blue  and  green 
would  not  often  be  chosen  as  a  harmonious 
combination,  nevertheless,  this  is  perhaps  the 
most  conspicuous  combination  of  color  in  Na¬ 
ture  represented  by  the  great  juxtaposed  areas 
of  blue  sky  and  green  vegetation.  If  the  an¬ 
alysis  stopped  here  Nature  would  be  charged 
with  poor  taste.  However,  the  sky  is  a  great 
many  times  brighter  than  the  green  foliage  and 
it  is  a  tint  of  blue  and  often  a  very  light  one. 
Furthermore,  this  tremendous  brightness  con¬ 
trast  throws  the  green  of  the  vegetation  into  a 
very  dark  shade  so  that  the  simple  statement  of 
blue  and  green  in  contrast  does  not  describe 
the  combination  adequately.  Likewise  the  pink 
rose  in  contrast  with  its  green  foliage  does  not 
fully  describe  the  combination.  The  rose 
petals  are  found  to  be  colored  with  a  variety 
of  tints  and  the  green  leaves  are  a  dark  grayish 
green.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  careful  observa¬ 
tion  and  description  is  essential  for  drawing 
correct  conclusions. 


250  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


The  analogy  of  music  has  been  used  to  a 
great  extent  in  the  discussion  of  color-harmony. 
Such  terms  as  tone,  key,  pitch,  quality,  and 
oithers  have  been  borrowed  from  the  termi¬ 
nology  of  music.  This  comparison  of  color- 
liarmony  with  music  has  been  helpful,  because 
of  the  indefiniteness  of  the  nomenclature  of 
color,  but  it  has  also  misled  some  far  afield  be¬ 
cause  of  their  failure  to  recognize  that  an 
analogy  cannot  be  pressed  too  far.  For  in¬ 
stance,  McDonald  attempted  to  base  a  system 
of  color-harmony  on  the  musical  scale  and  the 
laws  of  the  harmony  of  music.  If  this  could 
be  done  it  would  be  mere  accident,  but  Mc¬ 
Donald  would  have  abandoned  the  attempt  if 
he  had  stopped  to  think  that  the  ear  is  analytical 
while  the  eye  is  synthetic  in  its  operation. 
There  are  many  other  reasons  why  such  an  at¬ 
tempt  was  doomed  to  failure,  but  this  one  is  so 
overwhelmingly  convincing  as  to  require  no 
other  support  in  condemning  such  attempts  at 
relating  the  harmonies  of  colors  and  sounds. 

Two  tones  struck  simultaneously  are  not 
synthesized  by  the  ear,  but  are  recognized  as 
two  distinct  tones;  however,  two  colored  lights 
when  mixed  are  synthesized  into  one  which 
usually  appears  far  different  than  either  viewed 
singly.  As  long  as  McDonald  kept  his  colors 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  251 


separated  his  scheme  might  have  borne  fruit  and 
it  is  only  fair  to  state  that  from  this  viewpoint 
his  attempt  is  not  without  merit.  Others  who 
have  attempted  to  produce  color-music  based 
upon  the  analogy  of  colors  and  sounds  have 
made  far  worse  blunders  and  have  contributed 
nothing  more,  in  many  cases,  than  chaos  to  an 
already  abundant  supply.  Other  facts  bearing 
upon  this  aspect  will  be  brought  out  later. 

It  has  been  the  aim  in  this  chapter  to  discuss 
the  question  of  color-harmony  broadly  and  to 
indicate  its  possible  relations  to  the  science  of 
color.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  record  the 
author’s  ideas  of  harmony,  but  rather  to  point 
out  a  few  of  the  pitfalls  and  to  make  a  plea  for 
a  greater  use  of  scientific  knowledge  and  of 
searching  analysis. 


COLOR  PRACTICE 


IT  appears  of  interest  in  this  discussion  of 
the  language  of  color  to  touch  upon  the 
means  for  obtaining  color  and  upon  some  of 
the  principles  and  results  of  color-mixture.  In 
the  use  of  color  three  general  methods  are  avail¬ 
able,  namely,  the  additive,  the  subtractive,  and 
the  juxtapositional.  The  first  is  that  involved 
in  the  mixture  of  colored  lights  as  applied  upon 
the  stage  and  in  similar  cases;  the  second  is 
that  involved  in  the  use  of  pigments  in  paint¬ 
ing,  dyeing,  and  color-painting;  and  the  third 
may  be  used  with  either  lights  or  pigments. 
The  various  principles  involved  in  these  three 
methods  of  color-mixture  have  been  much  con¬ 
fused  by  many  who  practice  the  art  of  color. 

The  primary  colors  of  the  additive  method  are 
red,  green,  and  blue;  that  is,  a  mixture  of 
these  colors  in  proper  proportions  will  produce 
white  light  or  lights  of  a  vast  variety  of  domi¬ 
nant  hues.  In  other  words,  if  lights  of  these 
three  colors  be  permitted  to  illuminate  a  white 
paper  the  resultant  color  will  be  white  or  any 
dominant  hue  depending  upon  the  relative  in¬ 
tensities  of  the  three  primary  components. 

252 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  253 


For  example,  red  and  blue  lights  when  mixed 
make  purple ;  red  and  green  lights  make  yellow ; 
blue  and  green  lights  make  blue-green;  and 
yellow  and  blue  lights  make  white.  The  latter 
case  is  of  interest  further  because  it  will  be 
noted  that  the  yellow  can  be  made  by  mixing 
red  and  green  so  that  the  yellow-blue  mixture 
which  resulted  in  white  is  actually  composed  of 
the  three  primary  components,  red,  green,  and 
blue.  These  are  examples  of  the  synthetic 
process  of  color-vision.  The  results  of  various 
mixtures  of  colored  lights  can  only  be  predicted 
with  certainty  when  the  facts  of  spectrum 
analysis  and  of  color-mixture  are  well  known. 

The  primary  colored  lights  which  the  author 
finds  satisfactory  for  general  purposes  are:  a 
red  bordering  on  the  orange-red  in  hue,  a  green 
with  a  yellowish  hue,  and  a  blue  made  by  using 
an  ordinary  blue  glass  or  transparent  dye  cor¬ 
rected  with  a  blue-green  glass  or  dye  in  order  to 
eliminate  the  red  light  which  is  so  commonly 
transmitted  by  blue  dyes  and  glasses. 

The  primary  colors  of  the  subtractive  method 
are  usually  considered  to  be  red,  yellow  and 
blue,  but  there  appears  to  be  no  justification 
for  considering  red  to  be  as  “primary”  as 
purple.  In  fact  if  the  artist  or  dyer  depended 
only  upon  these  colors  he  would  find  that  he  had 


254  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


no  means  of  obtaining  a  rich  purple  by  mix¬ 
ture,  therefore  purple,  yellow  and  blue  are 
primaries  of  greater  productibility.  In  fact 
the  so-called  red  primary  of  the  artist  or  color- 
printer  is  in  reality  a  purple  so  that  the  diffi¬ 
culty  is  due  to  a  misnomer  rather  than  to  the 
use  of  an  actual  red  pigment. 

If  it  is  considered  that  the  resultant  color 
due  to  a  subtractive  mixture  of  two  or  more 
colors  is  that  which  is  common  to  all  the  com¬ 
ponents  of  the  mixture,  the  result  can  be  readily 
predicted  through  an  acquaintance  with  the 
spectral  characteristics  of  the  components  in¬ 
volved.  The  principle  of  the  mixture  of  pig¬ 
ments  can  be  conveniently  demonstrated  by 
superposing  colored  glasses.  In  fact,  this 
method  is  used  in  practice  in  obtaining  colored 
lights  for  use  as  primaries  for  the  additive 
method. 

If  purple  and  yellow  glasses  be  superposed, 
red  results  because  this  color  is  the  only  one 
transmitted  by  the  two  glasses.  Blue  and 
yellow  glasses  when  superposed  transmit  green 
light,  and  blue  and  purple  glasses  when  thus 
combined  transmit  blue  light.  These  glasses 
can  be  considered  as  representing  microscopic 
flakes  of  pigments  and  thus  the  principles  of 
the  mixture  of  pigments  are  readily  under- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  255 


stood.  In  such  cases  the  incident  light  pene¬ 
trates  through  some  of  the  microscopic  flakes 
and  a  portion  of  it  finds  its  way  out  by  reflec¬ 
tion.  While  penetrating  and  emerging  it  un¬ 
dergoes  various  changes  in  color  by  these  sub¬ 
tractive  processes.  However  in  the  mixture  of 
pigments  other  factors  such  as  body  color, 
transparency,  surface  color,  etc.,  are  involved. 
The  ordinary  colors  of  pigments  are  the  results 
of  the  subtractive  method;  for  example,  an 
opaque  red  object  appears  red  under  white  light 
because  it  has  the  ability  to  reflect  only  the  red 
rays  to  any  appreciable  extent.  If  it  is  viewed 
under  the  illumination  from  a  mercury  arc  or  a 
blue  light  it  appears  black,  or  nearly  so,  because 
no  rays  are  present  which  it  is  capable  of  re¬ 
flecting  to  any  great  degree.  It  is  thus  seen 
that  in  the  subtractive  process  the  tendency  is 
toward  black  and  in  the  additive  process  toward 
white. 

The  juxtapositional  method  of  color-mixture 
is  an  averaging  additive  method.  If  a  few 
colors  occupying  small  areas  be  juxtaposed  they 
will  appear  of  a  certain  uniform  color  if  the  eye 
is  at  a  distance  sufficiently  great  so  that  the  in¬ 
dividual  colors  are  no  longer  resolved.  A 
simple  demonstration  is  that  of  painting  one 
end  of  a  pack  of  cards  one  color,  say  red, 


256  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


and  the  other  end  green ;  on  reversing  alternate 
cards  and  viewing  one  end  of  the  pack  at  a 
short  distance  it  will  appear  yellow.  That  is, 
the  alternate  tine  strips  of  red  and  green  when 
unresolved  by  the  eye  will  appear  yellow  and 
the  apparent  brightness  will  be  a  mean  of  the 
brightnesses  of  the  components. 

This  method  is  that  involved  in  “impression¬ 
istic”  painting  in  which,  for  instance,  a  yellow 
color  is  actually  produced  by  pointilistic  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  various  components,  namely  red, 
orange,  yellow,  and  green.  It  is  also  used  in 
textile  manufacture  by  alternating  or  systemat¬ 
ically  grouping  differently  colored  threads,  in 
color-photography  and  elsewhere.  The  results 
are  often  more  luminous  than  when  pigments 
or  dyes  are  intimately  mixed  to  obtain  the  de¬ 
sired  color  for,  owing  to  the  lack  of  high  satura¬ 
tion  of  many  of  the  available  pigments  and 
dyes,  a  necessary  mixture  results  in  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  a  certain  amount  of  gray  associated  with 
the  resulting  dominant  hue.  In  other  words, 
if  a  brilliant  green  is  desired  it  is  a  safer  and 
more  satisfactory  procedure  to  use  a  natural 
green  pigment  than  to  obtain  it  by  a  mixture 
of  yellow  and  blue-green  pigments.  The  most 
satisfactory  colors  from  the  viewpoint  of  bril¬ 
liancy  are  obtained  by  mixture  only  when  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  257 


hues  of  the  components  are  closely  related  to 
that  which  it  is  desired  to  obtain.  Lights  of 
various  colors  can  be  obtained  by  the  juxta- 
positional  method  though  usually  not  as  effi¬ 
ciently  as  they  would  be  obtained  directly. 
These  various  methods  find  many  applications 
in  the  practice  of  both  the  science  and  art  of 
color. 

Certain  characteristics  of  coloring  materials 
should  be  closely  studied.  The  aniline  dyes 
provide  a  beautiful  array  of  fairly  pure  and 
highly  transparent  colors.  Colored  glasses, 
pigments,  dyes,  water  colors,  inks,  etc.,  are 
valuable  tools,  all  of  which  have  their  places  in 
the  science  and  art  of  color.  A  broad  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  these  is  a  great  aid  to  those  especially 
interested  in  any  of  the  aspects  of  color.  The 
chief  characteristics  which  should  be  noted  in 
the  consideration  of  coloring  elements  are  dur¬ 
ability,  depth,  body,  purity,  surface  character, 
transparency,  brilliancy,  luminosity,  richness, 
and  beauty. 

The  method  of  applying  colors  to  surfaces  is 
also  of  importance.  For  example,  if  a  liquid 
color  be  applied  by  means  of  an  air  brush,  it 
will  often  appear  quite  different  (usually  much 
richer)  than  when  applied  by  means  of  an  ordi¬ 
nary  brush.  In  the  former  case  when  applied 


258  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


thickly  it  will  be  left  with  a  rougher  and  more 
porous  surface  which  deepens  its  hue  and  in¬ 
creases  its  purity.  Many  points  of  this  nature 
are  associated  with  the  application  of  color  and 
the  artist  in  color  cannot  fail  to  profit  by  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  principles 
of  the  science  of  color. 

Doubtless  the  blending  of  colors  has  been  a 
difficult  technique  for  the  young  colorist  to  ac¬ 
quire.  Perhaps  in  no  other  single  aspect  of 
the  art  of  color  is  a  knowledge  of  the  spectral 
characteristics  of  pigments  and  of  the  science 
of  color-mixture  more  valuable.  If  the  spectral 
characters  of  the  pigments  are  known,  approxi¬ 
mately  at  least,  and  the  principles  of  the  sub¬ 
tractive  mixture  of  colors  have  been  thoroughly 
grasped  no  discouraging  surprises  will  be  en¬ 
countered.  For  example,  if  red  and  green  are 
blended  the  result  will  not  be  a  gradual  change 
from  one  dominant  hue  to  the  other.  In  this 
case  a  muddy  color  will  be  found  midway  be¬ 
cause  the  result  of  mixing  red  and  green  pig¬ 
ments  is  a  gray  with  perhaps  a  suggestion  of 
residual  color.  In  blending  colors,  whose 
dominant  hues  are  far  apart  spectrally,  it  is 
necessary  to  use  a  color  between  them  which  con¬ 
tains  components  of  both  colors.  For  example, 
in  blending  red  and  green  pigments,  yellow  is  a 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  259 


satisfactory  color  for  use  with  them  at  the  in¬ 
definite  blended  junction.  Purple  may  be  used 
for  blending  red  and  violet;  white  for  green 
and  purple;  blue-green  for  green  and  violet; 
white  for  yellow  and  violet.  A  study  of  these 
suggestions  will  reveal  the  principle  upon  which 
they  are  based,  that  is,  the  blending  color  is 
really  a  link  between  the  colors  which  are 
blended  by  possessing  a  color  common  to  the 
two  colors.  A  valuable  aid  will  be  found  in  the 
color-circle  which  has  been  described  in  the 
previous  chapter. 

It  would  be  an  endless  task  to  describe  the 
colors  resulting  from  a  mixture  of  pigments. 
Certainly  practice  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
spectral  characteristics  of  the  colors  at  hand 
are  better  guides  than  a  cumbersome  descrip¬ 
tion  of  specific  cases  which  at  best  could  not 
be  accurate.  Some  of  the  available  color-charts 
are  helpful  as  supplementary  guides.  The 
futility  of  descriptions  of  the  results  of  mixing 
pigments  is  readily  exemplified  by  a  few  cases. 
Brown  might  be  said  to  be  produced  by  mixing 
an  orange-red  with  black,  however,  if  we 
examine  the  many  colors  that  are  called  brown 
we  find  a  vast  array  of  them  varying  greatly  in 
hue.  Obviously  these  are  not  all  produced  in 
the  same  manner.  A  bluish-gray  can  be  pro- 


260  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


duced  by  a  mixture  of  black  and  white  tinted  by 
means  of  a  small  proportion  of  a  blue  pigment. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  might  be  produced  by  a 
mixture  of  various  colors  without  black  or 
white,  for  example,  a  proper  mixture  of  purple 
and  bluish-green.  Coloring  elements  such  as 
pigments  are  the  tools  of  those  applying  color 
in  the  arts.  An  intimate  acquaintance  with 
these  tools  is  essential  and  is  assumed  to  be 
possessed  by  those  interested  in  applying  the 
language  of  color. 

The  application  of  color,  whether  it  be  in  a 
painting,  in  decoration,  in  the  lighting  of  the 
stage  or  in  the  many  other  places  where  it  has 
found  its  way,  is  successful  only  when  guided 
by  the  fine  sensibility  of  the  artist.  Formulae 
cannot  be  written  which  will  guide  those  who  do 
not  have  a  well  developed  esthetic  sense  in  ap¬ 
plying  colors  to  the  full  extent  of  their  expres¬ 
siveness.  This  book  and  others  have  aimed  to 
bring  to  the  attention  of  those  who  use  and 
enjoy  colors,  various  facts  and  viewpoints  con¬ 
cerning  color,  but  it  must  ever  remain  for  the 
artist  to  play  the  music  of  light — colors — just  as 
it  is  left  to  the  musician  to  render  music. 
However,  colors  should  be  appreciated  by  every 
one  possessing  the  gift  of  color-vision  just  as 
music  is  appreciated.  In  the  rendering  of  color 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  261 


as  of  music  we  must  depend  upon  the  artist 
who  possesses  a  fine  sensibility,  in  which  senti¬ 
ment,  judgment,  taste,  and  perception  are  har¬ 
monized. 

Notwithstanding  the  admission  that  the  artist 
must  be  depended  upon  to  play  the  music  of 
light  he  can  profit  as  well  as  others  in  keeping 
in  close  touch  with  the  language  of  color.  The 
artist  has  created  a  portion  of  the  scanty 
language  of  color  which  is  available,  but  the 
consensus  of  opinion  of  the  masses  (which  is  un¬ 
consciously  expressed)  has  established  the  re¬ 
mainder.  The  enlightened  artist  knows  that 
colors  have  certain  powers  of  arousing  emotions 
and  to  analyze  these  effects  is  one  of  his  aims 
for,  with  this  information  he  is  enabled,  as 
Addison  says,  “to  put  a  virtue  into  colors,  or 
to  find  a  proper  dress  for  a  passion.” 


COLOR-MUSIC 


RHETORICALLY,  colors  may  be  referred 
to  as  the  music  of  light,  but  in  pressing 
the  analogy  between  sounds  and  colors  too  far 
the  promising  and  well-intended  efforts  of 
many  persons  have  ended  in  an  entanglement 
of  ridiculous  argument.  The  nomenclature  of 
color  is  so  lacking  in  standardization  that  it  has 
been  convenient  and  even  necessary  to  borrow 
definite  words  from  the  well-standardized  ter¬ 
minology  of  the  science  and  art  of  music.  The 
continued  use  of  such  terms  as  tone,  key,  pitch, 
harmony,  and  scale,  has  misled  many  to  con¬ 
clude  that  there  is  a  close  affinity  between  sight 
and  hearing.  This  conclusion  combined  with  a 
scanty  or  superficial  knowledge  of  the  science 
of  sounds  and  of  colors  has  resulted  in  the 
formulation  of  many  ideas  regarding  relations 
of  sounds  and  colors  which  have  led  many 
others  astray.  It  is  not  the  intention  to  deny 
the  possible  development  of  color-music,  or  an 
art  of  mobile  color,  for  it  appears  to  the  author 
that  in  the  same  number  of  centuries  which  were 
required  to  bring  music  to  its  present  stage  it 
is  possible  for  the  art  of  mobile  color  to  evolve 

262 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  263 


into  something  definite  and  full  of  meaning. 
The  aim  in  the  present  chapter  is  to  discuss  the 
errors  of  the  past  and  possibly  to  suggest  the 
course  to  be  pursued  in  order  that  the  pitfalls 
may  be  avoided. 

First  let  us  consider  how  far  it  is  safe  to 
extend  the  analogy  between  sounds  and  colors. 
The  specific  meaning  of  analogy  is  a  similarity 
of  relations  and  in  Webster’s  dictionary  is 
found  this  illustration:  “Learning  enlightens 
the  mind  because  it  is  to  the  mind  what  light  is 
to  the  eye,  enabling  it  to  discover  things  before 
hidden.  ’  ’  From  this  it  cannot  be  deduced  that 
light  and  learning  operate  in  the  same  manner. 
Thus  it  is  seen  that  an  analogy  includes  only  a 
resemblance  of  relations.  If  the  full  import  of 
the  limitations  of  an  analogy  had  been  univer¬ 
sally  recognized  much  confusion  regarding 
sounds  and  colors  would  have  been  avoided. 
Painting  as  an  art  is  in  the  same  class  with 
music,  but  as  a  science,  music  is  far  in  advance 
of  the  other  fine  arts.  For  this  reason  various 
terms  have  been  borrowed  from  the  nomencla¬ 
ture  of  music  for  the  purpose  of  describing  col¬ 
ors  and  their  arrangements  in  various  arts. 
Thus  an  analogy  has  been  formulated  and  has 
gradually  outgrown  its  legitimate  boundaries. 

With  this  analogy  as  a  background  many 


264  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


have  misapplied  a  scanty  and  inaccurate  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  science  of  color  and  of  sound  with 
the  result  that  various  conclusions  regarding 
color-harmony  and  1  ‘color-music”  have  been 
built  upon  untenable  assumptions.  Unfortu¬ 
nately,  Newton,  after  his  epoch-making  experi¬ 
ment  in  which  he  revealed  the  spectrum  of  sun¬ 
light,  gave  seven  color-names  to  the  spectral 
colors,  namely,  violet,  indigo,  blue,  green, 
yellow,  orange  and  red.  Speculators  have  as¬ 
sociated  these  seven  color-names  with  the  seven 
notes  of  the  musical  scale.  We  are  able  to  see 
more  than  a  hundred  different  hues  in  the  whole 
visible  spectrum  and  it  was  purely  accidental 
that  Newton  applied  seven  names  to  it.  Doubt¬ 
less  he  applied  these  names  for  no  other  pur¬ 
pose  than  to  provide  terms  for  approximately 
describing  or  denoting  the  various  spectral 
regions.  Since  Newton’s  time  the  name,  indigo, 
has  been  generally  dropped  from  the  series. 
In  fact  it  is  not  uncommon  to  use  merely  the 
terms  red,  yellow,  green,  and  blue  as  descriptive 
of  the  conspicuous  spectral  colors.  When  dis¬ 
cussing  color  from  the  viewpoint  of  color-mix¬ 
ture  it  is  convenient  to  use  only  the  names,  red, 
green,  and  blue. 

It  is  quite  unsound  to  relate  the  seven  colors 
named  by  Newton  to  the  seven  notes  of  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  265 


musical  scale  for  various  other  reasons.  A 
highly  important  one  is  the  absence  of  a  very 
conspicuous  and  appealing  color — purple — from 
this  series.  Furthermore,  it  must  be  recog¬ 
nized  that  even  our  musical  scale  is  arbitrary. 
Our  octave  consists  of  a  chromatic  scale  of 
twelve  notes,  the  smallest  interval  being  a  half¬ 
tone,  but  this  is  not  universal.  There  is  no 
absolute  scale  and  therefore,  notwithstanding 
the  present  standardization  of  the  musical  scale 
among  many  peoples,  it  must  be  recognized  that 
in  developing  schemes  for  color-harmony  or  for 
color-music  it  is  dangerous  to  use  a  foundation 
that  is  not  perfectly  stable  or  absolute. 

The  fact  that  both  sounds  and  colors  are  as¬ 
sociated  with  wave-theories  has  also  been  used 
to  add  to  the  confusion;  however,  there  are 
many  reasons  why  this  fact  cannot  be  used  in 
connecting  sounds  and  colors.  Sounds  are 
propagated  in  the  form  of  waves  in  a  material 
medium  but  light-waves  are  only  supposed  to  be 
transmitted  by  a  medium  which  is  assumed  to 
exist.  Furthermore,  scientists  disclaim  any 
general  similarity  between  sound-waves  and 
light-waves;  in  fact  the  two  kinds  of  wave-mo¬ 
tion  are  quite  different  in  character.  The  wave- 
theories  fit  beautifully  into  the  analogy  if  the 
latter  is  not  pressed  too  far  but  are  worthless 


266  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


in  relating  sounds  and  colors  fundamentally. 

A  notable  difference  between  tlie  sense  of 
bearing  and  of  sight  is  that  the  former  is 
analytic  and  the  latter  is  synthetic  in  operation. 
In  other  words,  the  ear  is  able  to  analyze  a  mix¬ 
ture  of  tones  (a  chord)  into  its  components,  but 
the  eye  cannot  analyze  a  mixture  of  colors. 
Many  examples  of  the  synthetic  nature  of  vision 
have  been  presented  in  preceding  chapters.  If 
red  and  green  lights  be  mixed  a  yellow  sensa¬ 
tion  results ;  that  is,  if  a  pigment  reflected  only 
red  and  green  rays  it  would  appear  yellow. 
Failure  to  consider  this  great  difference  be¬ 
tween  these  two  senses  has  led  many  into  very 
unsound  theorizing. 

The  affective  values  of  auditory  sensations 
differ  very  much.  For  example  some  very  low 
tones  are  decidedly  unpleasant  owing  to  their 
intensity  or  volume  and  many  tones  of  very 
high  pitch  are  unpleasant  owing  to  their  slight 
extensity  and  piercing  effect.  The  affective 
value  of  visual  sensations  also  varies  consider¬ 
ably  for  the  different  colors  but  to  those  who 
would  cling  to  a  relationship  between  sounds 
and  colors  it  may  be  stated  that  no  such  un¬ 
pleasantness  is  experienced  with  colors  of  ex¬ 
tremely  long  and  short  wave-lengths  respec¬ 
tively  as  in  the  case  of  sounds.  Colors  are 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  267 


represented  by  about  one  octave,  the  wave¬ 
length  of  the  extreme  red  being  about  twice  that 
of  the  extreme  violet ;  however,  sounds  that  are 
audible  to  the  human  ear  are  represented  by 
many  octaves. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  establish 
laws  of  color-harmony  on  the  basis  of  the  har¬ 
mony  of  sounds.  These  efforts  have  usually  in¬ 
volved  the  use  of  the  “similarities”  described 
in  the  foregoing  paragraphs;  however,  there 
are  some  of  interest  because  of  the  more  novel 
modes  of  attack.  In  one  case  the  chief  thesis 
appears  to  be  that  harmonic  relations  are  built 
on  the  basis  of  notes  whose  overtones  are  most 
alike.  For  example,  the  relation  of  C  to  F  on 
the  musical  scale  is  found  to  be  the  closest  and 
this  numeric  relation  is  expressed  as  %.  The 
spectrum  is  conceived  to  be  analogous  to  the 
musical  octave  with  the  upper  note  omitted,  that 
is,  from  C  to  B  inclusive.  By  then  applying 
the  ratio  %  to  the  wave-lengths  of  the  spectral 
colors  it  is  concluded  that  the  most  harmonious 
combinations  of  color  result.  If  the  facts  of 
color-harmony  bear  out  this  mathematical  re¬ 
lation  it  would  be  of  interest,  but  even  then  the 
relation  could  be  considered  not  more  than  an 
analogy  at  best.  It  is  difficult  to  place  purple 
into  such  a  scheme  because  it  does  not  appear 


268  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


in  the  spectrum,  however,  this  color  cannot  be 
overlooked  as  a  factor  in  color-harmony. 
There  are  many  reasons,  in  musical  theory,  why 
certain  mathematical  ratios  are  fundamentally 
important,  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  an¬ 
alogous  conditions  should  prevail  in  the  visible 
spectrum  which  is  so  much  shorter  in  range  of 
wave-lengths  than  the  range  of  audible  sound¬ 
waves. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note 
that  Helmholtz  and  others  have  determined  the 
ratios  of  the  wave-lengths  of  complementary 
spectral  colors  and  found  no  simple  relation. 
Helmholtz  found  this  ratio  to  vary  from  1.2  to 
1.34.  This  variation  in  musical  notation  would 
correspond  to  the  relation  of  a  note  and  its 
fourth  and  to  that  between  a  note  and  its 
diminished  third  for  the  extreme  ratios.  This 
is  one  more  fact  which  condemns  any  chromatic 
theory  which  is  founded  upon  a  musical  basis. 

After  having  been  fore-warned  of  the  dangers 
of  extending  the  analogy  between  sounds  and 
colors  let  us  consider  the  analogy  somewhat 
further  within  legitimate  limits  because  of  the 
possible  guidance  which  it  may  afford  in  prose¬ 
cuting  experiments  in  color-music.  Sounds  are 
given  significance  in  speech  by  the  succession 
of  words  comprising  a  phrase  or  sentence;  in 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  269 


music  by  the  melody  or  succession  of  musical 
notes  or  chords.  Harmony  is  due  to  the  co¬ 
existence  of  several  concords  and  music  results 
from  a  succession  of  tones.  We  experience 
great  pleasure  from  harmony  (simultaneity) 
of  colors,  but  will  we  ever  be  able  to  experience 
pleasure  to  a  comparable  degree  by  melody 
(succession)  of  colors?  We  can  enjoy  music 
without  harmony,  but  will  we  ever  be  able  to  en¬ 
joy  colors  to  a  comparable  degree  without  har¬ 
mony,  that  is,  by  melody  alone?  The  question 
can  only  be  answered  after  extensive  experi¬ 
ments. 

Such  experiments  were  not  possible  on  an  ex¬ 
tensive  scale  until  the  advent  of  powerful  arti¬ 
ficial  light-sources  which  may  account  for  the 
lack  of  development  of  melodies  of  colors.  We 
enjoy  to  some  extent  the  play  of  color  on  a  stage 
setting  or  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  dance 
if  the  melody  is  “well  rendered.”  It  need  not 
be  discouraging  to  admit  our  present  inabil¬ 
ity  to  interpret  completely  such  a  melody  of 
color.  Modern  music  evolved  from  chaos  many 
centuries  ago  yet  we  are  still  quite  ignorant  of 
the  philosophy  of  its  representative  or  allego¬ 
rical  power.  The  expressiveness  of  color  in 
painting  is  perhaps  equally  as  well  understood, 
and  in  many  respects  color  ranks  with  music 


270  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOE 


in  relation  to  our  understanding.  From  such 
a  viewpoint  we  are  encouraged  to  hope  and  even 
to  expect  that  some  day  mankind  will  be  enter¬ 
tained  by  the  rendition  of  color-melody  in  which 
harmony  and  rhythm  will  also  be  interwoven. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  introduce  the  element 
of  harmony  in  a  manner  which  will  overcome 
the  non-analytic  nature  of  the  visual  process. 
The  colors  which  are  introduced  simultaneously 
for  obtaining  harmony  must  occupy  different 
positions  spatially,  but  the  introduction  of 
rhythm  should  be  no  more  difficult  than  in  the 
case  of  music.  Whether  or  not,  in  the  rhythm 
of  color-music,  the  time-rates  will  be  compa¬ 
rable  in  general  with  those  employed  in  sound- 
music  is  a  question  that  cannot  be  answered  at 
present  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  From 
various  considerations  it  appears  that  the 
rhythmic  'movements  of  colors  must  be  slower 
than  those  which  play  such  an  important  part 
in  ordinary  music.  The  richness  of  colors  is 
often  heightened  when  the  images  of  those  dif¬ 
fering  considerably  in  hue  are  permitted  to 
impinge  upon  the  retina  at  a  moderate  rate  of 
succession.  When  this  rate  is  too  rapid  the 
colors  blend  into  a  resultant  color,  but  doubt¬ 
less  there  is  a  range  of  speed  which  is  satisfac- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  271 


tory  for  various  color-phrases  depending  upon 
the  hues  and  brightnesses. 

The  leading  elements  in  sound-music  are 
rhythm,  melody,  harmony,  tone-quality,  and 
dynamic  contrast.  In  experimenting  with 
color-music  these  elements  must  be  borne  in 
mind  though  their  relations  are  likely  to  be  con¬ 
siderably  altered  to  allow  for  the  fundamental 
differences  between  the  visual  and  auditory 
senses.  The  normal  adult  person  is  able  to 
experience  more  than  10,000  tones  and  many 
simple  noises  and  these  auditory  sensations 
possess  attributes  of  quality  and  intensity. 
Among  the  latter  is  that  of  extensity,  a  low 
tone  being  large  and  a  high  tone  being  small. 
It  has  been  stated  by  certain  psychologists  that 
there  are  many  points  of  resemblance  between 
tones  and  achromatic  sensations  and  between 
noises  and  colors.  If  the  latter  resemblance  is 
too  close  the  possibility  of  the  development  of 
color-music  would  be  seriously  doubted,  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  this  is  true. 

We  need  only  to  consider  ordinary  music  to 
reach  the  conclusion  that  rhythmic  experiences 
are  much  more  agreeable  than  those  which  are 
non-rhythmic.  Irregularities  must  be  either 
avoided  or  compensated.  The  human  organism 


272  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


seems  to  demand  a  certain  degree  of  rhythm 
and  it  is  noteworthy  that  many  natural  phe¬ 
nomena,  bodily  processes,  and  human  activities 
are  rhythmic.  It  is  possible  that  these  account 
for  our  appreciation  of  psychological  rhythm. 
It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  a  sudden  turn 
in  a  line  of  a  sculpture  or  painting  often  affords 
a  pleasant  surprise  or  plays  the  role  of  an 
accent  or  emphasis. 

Musical  tones  vary  in  their  quality  and  this 
great  diversity  enriches  the  harmony.  In  the 
myriad  combinations  of  these  qualities  exists  a 
variety  which,  with  the  aid  of  the  other 
elements,  makes  music  ever  pleasurable. 
Colors  also  vary  in  quality  and  appear  to 
possess  similar  possibilities.  Will  the  human 
organism  ever  be  able  to  adapt  itself  to  an  en¬ 
joyment  of  color-music?  This  is  the  most  im¬ 
portant  question  to  be  solved  by  experiment. 

In  the  preceding,  colors  and  sounds  have  been 
considered  in  parallel  and  the  discussion  has 
been  aimed  chiefly  at  the  possibility  of  colors 
affording  sufficient  pleasure  to  encourage  the 
development  of  color-music — an  independent 
art.  It  is  of  interest  to  digress  at  this  point 
to  discuss  the  possibility  of  uniting  colors  with 
sound-music  in  a  fundamental  manner.  Experi¬ 
ments  of  this  nature  have  been  made  and  al- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  273 


though  the  author  subscribes  heartily  to  the 
idea  of  experiment  it  is  unfortunate  that,  inten¬ 
tionally  or  otherwise,  the  impression  has  pre¬ 
vailed  that  these  were  finished  products  evolved 
in  the  minds  of  certain  geniuses  who  possess  a 
knowledge  of  the  language  of  color  far  superior 
to  those  who  have  given  years  to  its  study. 
The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  review  the  available 
facts  of  the  language  of  color  and  to  discuss  as 
clearly  as  possible  the  relation  that  such  an  art 
must  bear  to  the  science  of  color.  It  is  hoped 
that  this  discussion  as  a  whole  will  point  out 
these  rudiments  and  a  general  consistency  in 
the  expressiveness  of  the  various  colors.  Be¬ 
yond  this  it  is  impossible  to  extend  the  discus¬ 
sion  except  for  a  few  suggestions  pointing 
toward  the  future. 

In  relating  color-music  and  sound-music 
many  points  must  be  borne  in  mind.  Although 
it  is  difficult  to  apply  numerical  values  to  the 
affective  values  of  colors  and  to  tones,  it  is 
possible  to  form  an  idea  of  the  emotive  value  of 
colors  in  general  as  compared  to  music.  A  per¬ 
son  may  experience  pleasure  at  the  sight  of  a 
single  color,  a  color-harmony,  or  a  sequence  of 
colors,  but  the  degree  of  pleasure  is  not  com¬ 
parable  with  that  experienced  on  listening  to  a 
symphony  orchestra  or  even  to  a  piano  selec- 


274  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


tion.  If  colors  are  to  compete  for  favor  with 
music  when  they  are  rendered  simultaneously  it 
appears  likely  that  the  colors  must  occupy  large 
areas — so  large  that  they  provide  the  “at¬ 
mosphere.”  Colors  played  on  a  relatively 
small  surface  are  conspicuous  in  their  feeble¬ 
ness  when  competing  with  a  musical  rendition. 
From  experience  it  appears  that  this  is  a  very 
important  point  to  be  considered  at  the  present 
time. 

It  should  also  be  noted  that  many  psycho¬ 
logical  factors  must  be  considered  when  com¬ 
bining  colors  with  music.  The  question  arises, 
does  color  enhance  the  power  of  music?  Data 
are  lacking  which  would  settle  this  question  al¬ 
though  from  conversation  with  persons  who 
have  witnessed  colors  accompanying  music,  one 
is  led  to  believe  that  the  value  of  colors  in  this 
role  is  doubtful.  However,  colors  have  not 
been  combined  with  music  in  the  most  effective 
way  as  indicated  in  the  preceding  paragraph 
and  until  this  is  done  the  combination  of  colors 
and  music  cannot  be  condemned.  Experiments 
by  the  author  on  both  small  and  large  scales  in¬ 
dicate  that  colors  can  enhance  the  agreeable¬ 
ness  of  music  although  other  factors  were 
usually  present  so  that  no  definite  conclusion 
can  be  reached.  Both  vision  and  audition  are 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  275 


stimulated  in  the  case  of  a  dance  accompanied 
by  music,  but  rhythm  is  the  dominant  element 
common  to  both  senses.  When  music  is  accom¬ 
panied  by  colors  this  element  is  also  present, 
but  color  alone  is  supposed  to  be  an  important 
factor.  In  such  a  case  it  must  still  remain  an 
open  question  whether  colors  diminish  or  en¬ 
hance  the  power  of  music. 

In  closing  this  discussion  of  colors  and  music 
it  is  of  interest  to  refer  to  a  scientific  investi¬ 
gation  bearing  upon  the  subject.  Keith  has 
studied  the  mutual  influence  of  feelings  and  has 
presented  results  of  a  long  series  of  experi¬ 
ments  with  two  subjects  on  the  hedonic  ranking 
of  various  colors,  tone-combinations,  and  sur¬ 
faces  actively  or  passively  touched.  Twenty- 
seven  tone-combinations  and  fourteen  of  each 
of  the  other  groups  were  separately  given  their 
values  in  the  conventional  scale  of  seven  de¬ 
grees  of  pleasantness-unpleasantness,  after 
which  the  members  of  each  group  were  com¬ 
bined  in  turn  with  those  of  the  other  groups  and 
assigned  values  under  these  conditions.  The 
results  indicate  that  combining  colors  and  tones 
lowers  the  agreeableness  of  both  and  combining 
colors  and  passive  touch  or  tones  and  active 
touch  raises  the  agreeableness  of  both  in  both 
cases.  For  the  other  combinations  the  results 


276  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


were  not  sufficiently  consistent  to  warrant  any 
conclusions.  A  few  investigations  have  been 
performed  which  would  add  interesting  data 
if  this  discussion  were  broadly  extended,  but  on 
the  whole  the  data  of  direct  interest  are  very 
meager. 


FINALE 


WHAT  is  the  future  of  the  language  of 
color?  The  answer  depends  upon  the 
degree  of  progress  made  in  several  directions. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  its  rudiments  exist  to¬ 
day  and  that  there  is  a  general  consistency  in 
the  interpretations  of  it  by  qualified  individuals. 
There  appears  to  be  no  reason  apparent  at  pres¬ 
ent  why  appreciation  and  understanding  of  this 
rudimentary  language  should  not  become  as 
prevalent  and  as  definite  as  that  of  music.  At 
this  point  it  is  well  to  note  that,  although  music 
is  quite  generally  appreciated,  its  representa¬ 
tive  power  is  only  vaguely  understood.  As 
compared  with  music  in  this  respect  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  color  is  relatively  not  extremely  vague. 
Color  is  perhaps  as  generally  liked  to-day  as 
music,  but  in  a  less  definite  manner.  In  order 
to  extend  the  use  of  the  language  of  color  it  is 
necessary  to  learn  more  of  its  rudiments  and 
to  standardize  them,  if  possible,  by  consistent 
usage.  It  is  also  necessary  that  a  general  un¬ 
derstanding  of  it  be  attained  by  mankind  before 
it  can  be  greatly  extended.  Finally,  it  must  be 
determined  whether  or  not  the  human  organism 

277 


278  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


can  adapt  itself  to  an  art  of  mobile  color  in 
which  color  plays  the  overwhelmingly  dominant 
role.  Experiments  are  the  only  means  of  de¬ 
termining  the  unanswered  questions,  hut  these 
experiments  should  be  conducted  by  those  hav¬ 
ing  a  wide  acquaintance  with  the  many  aspects 
of  color. 

Heretofore  color  has  not  played  a  leading 
role.  Line  and  form  have  usually  produced  a 
setting  in  which  colors  have  supplied  the  dra¬ 
pery  and  atmosphere.  If  color  is  given  the  lead¬ 
ing  role  will  it,  with  the  aid  of  such  factors  as 
rhythm,  be  able  to  please  mankind  in  a  manner 
comparable  with  music?  Again  we  must  resort 
to  thoughtful  experiment.  Colors  please  us 
greatly  in  painting,  in  decoration,  as  an  accom¬ 
paniment  to  the  dance,  and  in  many  settings. 
Often  it  is  the  mobile  color  such  as  is  witnessed 
at  sunset  or  on  the  stage  that  appeals  most  to 
us.  Experiments  should  prove  whether  or  not 
mobile  color  can  be  made  more  effective  and 
finally  be  able  to  play  a  dominant  role.  Some 
conducted  by  the  author  have  indicated  that  a 
thoughtful  rendition  of  mobile  color  has  the 
power  to  please  us  greatly. 

It  is  interesting  to  inquire  as  to  what  a 
“color-score”  of  an  art  of  mobile  color  would 
be  like.  It  is  too  early  to  give  much  time  to 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  279 


such  speculation  but  no  start  can  be  made  in 
experimenting  without  first  formulating  some 
idea  of  a  simple  color-melody.  The  expressive¬ 
ness  of  colors  taken  individually  must  be  con¬ 
sidered  first.  These  might  then  be  woven  into 
a  simple  melody  in  which  rhythm,  both  in  time 
and  in  intensity,  would  be  introduced.  So  far, 
definite  form  need  not  enter,  however  upon  the 
introduction  of  harmony  it  is  impossible  to  es¬ 
cape  from  the  introduction  of  form.  Colors 
must  be  separated  in  the  visual  field  in  order  to 
harmonize  them  so  that  this  brings  up  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  the  character  and  magnitude  of  the  field 
upon  which  to  play  the  colors.  Tones  meet 
with  no  such  difficulty  in  sound-music  because 
they  can  be  emitted  simultaneously  into  space. 
However,  the  eye,  being  a  synthetical  instru¬ 
ment,  makes  demands  which  the  ear  does  not. 
Many  possibilities  pertaining  to  methods  of  pro¬ 
ducing  colors  and  of  displaying  them  become 
apparent  to  those  familiar  with  the  science  of 
color.  These  have  been  discussed  elsewhere 
and  do  not  fall  within  the  province  of  this  book. 

Experiments  need  not  be  confined  only  to  mo¬ 
bile  color.  An  obvious  means  of  evolving  an 
art  predominantly  of  color  or  an  art  of  mobile 
color  is  by  using  color  more  definitely  and  powT~ 
erfully  in  the  many  arts  in  which  it  is  now  a 


280  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR 


conspicuous  though  subordinate  factor.  By- 
basing  the  uses  of  color  in  these  augmented 
roles  upon  the  sound  though  meager  knowledge 
of  its  expressiveness  which  is  available  to-day, 
progress  will  be  made  toward  that  possible  goal 
which  experiment  alone  will  be  able  to  reveal 
if  it  exists. 

It  is  unsafe  to  extend  this  discussion  further 
because  we  are  approaching  the  realm  of  specu¬ 
lation.  Notwithstanding  the  hint  of  specula¬ 
tion  that  may  appear  to  some  in  the  title  of  this 
book,  an  aim  which  has  been  foremost  in  the 
author’s  mind  has  been  to  deal  only  with  facts 
and  to  enter  the  field  of  speculation  only  as  far 
as  the  limits  of  the  province  of  suggestion. 
Lest  the  boundaries  of  the  latter  be  crossed,  the 
discussion  for  the  present  will  be  closed  with  a 
brief  resume  of  the  tools  available  by  the  futur¬ 
ist  in  the  highest  possible  development  of  the 
language  of  color — namely,  the  art  of  mobile 
color. 

The  character  of  the  available  material  re¬ 
garding  the  expressiveness  of  color  has  been 
outlined  in  this  book.  Scientific  research  will 
doubtless  contribute  much  of  interest  regarding 
the  emotive  values  of  colors.  Experimental  re¬ 
search  will  reveal  the  most  successful  methods 
of  presenting  colors  in  order  that  their  full 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  COLOR  281 


powers  will  be  exercised.  The  factors  that  may 
be  woven  into  such  a  possible  art  are  simultane¬ 
ous  and  successive  contrasts  in  brightness  and 
in  hue,  sequences  in  hue,  tints,  and  shades, 
rhythm,  spatial  relations,  and  many  minor  fac¬ 
tors  more  or  less  related.  Will  a  mobile-color¬ 
ist  of  the  future  be  able  to  “blend  the  fair  tints, 
and  awake  the  vocal  string”  of  approbation? 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


The  following  list  includes  a  number  of  ref¬ 
erences  which  have  been  mentioned  in  the 
text : — 

Bradford,  E.  J.  G...Amer.  J.  of  Psych.  24,  1913,  545. 


Chevreul,  M.  E . Color,  1835. 

Clement,  C.  E . Legendary  and  Mythological  Art. 

Cohn,  J . Phil.  Stud.  15,  1900,  279. 

Fairholt  . Dictionary  of  Terms  in  Art. 

Gordon,  Kate . Psych.  Rev.  19,  1912,  352. 

Hulme . Symbolism  in  Christian  Art. 

Jastrow  . Pop.  Sci.  Mo.  50,  361. 

Luckiesh,  M . Color  and  Its  Applications,  1915. 

McDonald,  J.  D . Sounds  and  Colors,  1867. 

Minor,  A . Psych.  Bui.  7, 1910,  247. 

Miinsterberg,  H . General  and  Applied  Psychology. 

Neff,  E.  C . Christian  Symbolism. 

Pressey,  S.  L . Trans.  I.  E.  S.  11,  1916,  643. 

Raymond,  G.  S . Sounds  and  Color. 

Starch,  D . Advertising. 

Washburn,  M.  F....Amer.  J.  of  Psych.  22,  1911,  112  and 
578;  24,  1913,  267. 

Wells,  N.  A . Psych.  Bui.  7,  1910,  181. 


Woodworth,  R.  S...  Psych.  Bui,  7,  1910,  325. 

Owing  to  the  scope  of  this  subject  it  is  out  of 
the  question  to  give  a  comprehensive  bibliog¬ 
raphy  but  these  references  will  reveal  others. 
The  textbooks  of  color  and  the  journals  and 
textbooks  of  psychology  will  be  helpful  to  those 
who  wish  to  investigate  further  the  various  sci¬ 
entific  aspects  of  the  subject. 

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